Position and perspectives of developing countries in the international trade system
Position and perspectives of developing countries in the international trade system

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to provide an overview of the position of the developing countries in the international trade system and discussion about perspectives of their trade development. The main hypothesis of the paper is that developing countries as a group have made a breakthrough in the world trade in the past two decades, but genuine improvement has been made and enjoyed by several large developing countries, primarily China. The paper elaborates mostly by use of methods of analysis and synthesis, based on the extensive processing of trade data, as well as relevant literature. In this context, the paper provides evidence about trade liberalisation of the developing countries since 1980s to the present time, intense export growth of the developing countries over the period, as well as change of the trade structure of the developing countries with developed countries, evident through rising share of the medium and high skills and technology based products. In purpose of provision of more realistic assessment of the position of the developing countries in the international trade system, special attention has been put on China’s trade performances, given the rapid increase of China’s share in the world trade from less than 1 per cent in 1980 to over 10 per cent in 2011. The major findings of the paper confirm that improvement of the overall position of the developing countries in the international trade system has mainly resulted from the improvement of the trade position of several countries, primarily China. The paper also provides overview on WTO simulations about international trade prospects up to 2035, which confirm further dependence on the trade position of the developing countries as a group from China’s trade accomplishments. In this perspective, the paper argues that there is a need for differentiated treatment and provision of extra flexibilities for the other developing countries in purpose of achieving as genuine improvement in their trade position.

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