World trade and development report 2021: trade, technology and institutions

Nearly two decades after the launch of the Doha Round in 2001, there is virtually no chance of it succeeding. If the WTO is to be properly revived and restored, it is vitally important to understand why the Doha Round has failed. Some of the pressing issues on the agenda of the 12th Ministerial Conference in any case include the unfinished task of the Doha Development Round around issues that the developing countries are not ready to forego even as a very new set of rules are being proposed in the name of WTO reforms. Whether the WTO can survive both the external shock and internal friction remains to be seen. Nevertheless, it is in India’s interest to continue to champion the case of developing countries at the WTO. Issues for the MC 12 at the WTO are obviously dealt with from a developing country perspective. Some of these are: implications of technology for the future of trade, fishery subsidies, institutional reforms and the issues confronting WTO itself. Beyond the immediate crisis, the world is also at the cusp of a paradigm shift in technological advancements, which has the potential to fundamentally alter trading relations forever. Developing countries are entering unknown trajectories that enables them to leapfrog by leveraging new technologies. This report brings out the complex interlinkages between trade and technology by assessing the extent of such transformations already underway and examines associated institutional changes at the global and national levels.