Asia-Pacific Summit to Call against Protectionism: Peru

“Leaders of Asia-Pacific economies at an upcoming weekend summit will issue a call against protectionism and backing free trade, despite the global financial crisis, an official from host Peru said Monday. The 21 nations in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) … account for 60 percent of the world's GDP.

‘The main theme we followed in this ... meeting is that we should avoid at any cost protectionism,’ Peru's Deputy Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez, who chaired the meeting, told a news conference. Gutierrez said that the 21-nation group should stick to its goal to achieve a free trade system in the region, echoing a call from world leaders at a G20 summit last weekend in Washington on the financial crisis.” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Xinhua adds that “…The senior officials attending the meeting also urged World Trade Organization (WTO) members to reach a final agreement on the long-stalled Doha Round of global trade talks by the year end, he said…” [Xinhua/Factiva]

EFE notes that “If adopted the declaration of Lima would be ‘an interesting complement to the G20 meeting,’ Gutierrez said …The joint statement is still under negotiation, is based on twelve chapters referring to the international financial crisis, to the situation of the WTO, regional integration, the goals of Bogor (which marked the APEC) and explore the possibility of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific…” [EFE/Factiva]

WTO's Lamy Says Progress Needed To Meet G20 Pledge

“The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said Monday that negotiators must redouble their efforts in order to make good on a pledge by world leaders to conclude a new trade deal by the end of the year. Leaders from the G20 group of major developed and developing powers committed at a weekend summit in Washington to counter the financial crisis by striving to ‘reach agreement this year’ on the Doha round of trade talks.

‘This high level commitment to enhancing the global trading system is vital to the success of our negotiations. What we now need is for this strong show of support to be translated into action at the negotiating table in Geneva,’ Lamy said in a statement…” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

The Guardian adds that “Trade ministers will meet in Geneva next month in an attempt to wrap up the Doha round of liberalization talks after leaders of the G20…demanded that the seven-year stalemate be ended by Christmas. Lamy will call a meeting of ministers in the middle of December after the G20 said protectionism risked deepening the global downturn…” [The Guardian/ Factiva]

In related trade news, The Saigon Times Daily reports that “…A study published on Friday by the International Food Policy Research Institute said that failure to complete the Doha round could put more than $1 trillion in world trade at risk. That comprises $336 billion in foregone trade from the cuts in subsidies and tariffs proposed under Doha, and $728 billion in lost sales if countries raise tariffs to ceilings permitted under existing rules, but not in use….” [The Saigon Times Daily/Factiva]

UN Data Point To Lower Emissions

“The UN released its latest global emissions figures on Monday… just two weeks before the world's environment ministers meet in Poznan, Poland, to discuss the creation of a new global agreement to curb climate changing greenhouse gas emissions.

The release of the new data comes against the backdrop of a global recession, and UN officials acknowledged that they were uncertain how economic hardship would affect countries' nascent commitment or ability to reduce emissions…” [The International Herald Tribune/Factiva]

Bloomberg reports that “…Evidence that emissions this decade are on a rising trend after falling in the 1990s shows improvement is necessary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said.

‘More needs to be done in order to meet industrialized- country Kyoto targets,’ de Boer said in a telephone interview from Bonn. ‘Even if Kyoto targets are met, they're still a very modest first step in terms of what over the longer term science tells us needs to be done.’ [Bloomberg]

Reuters notes that “… The UN Climate Panel says global emissions should peak by 2015 and then fall, to avoid the worst of climate change that could bring water and food shortages by causing floods, heat waves and more powerful storms… Monday's data only covers industrialized nations - developing nations face no obligation to cut or even report annual emissions. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

World Bank lowers Russia's GDP growth outlook to 6% in 2008

“The World Bank has downgraded its forecast for Russian GDP growth to 6% from 6.8% in 2008 and to 3% from 6.5% in 2009 due to effects of the global financial crisis.

"After a decade of high growth, the global financial crisis has affected Russia, posing a new challenge for macroeconomic policy. Having grown at an impressive 7% a year during 1999-2007 - and at an overheating 8% in the first half of 2008 - the Russian economy has started a gradual slowdown," the World Bank said in its Russian Economic Report. [RIA Novosti]

“The World Bank…[commended] Moscow for a speedy and thorough response to the impact of the global financial crisis. …The Bank said current macroeconomic fundamentals pointed to the ruble’s weakening in short term but added that gold and foreign currency reserves should provide an adequate cushion for the economy even if they fell further to around $350 billion. …

The Bank praised Moscow's response to the global crisis which has driven investors from emerging markets including Russia, and has effectively closed off corporate funding sources abroad. …But it added that more may need to be done on implementation and a prolonged slowdown could necessitate the introduction of a fiscal stimulus package. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

Dow Jones notes that “…The Bank said it expects Russian GDP to expand 6 percent this year compared with an initial estimate of 6.8 percent. In 2009, GDP is likely to grow by 3 percent rather than the 6.5 percent originally forecast.” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Prime-Tass adds that “Russia’s consumer price inflation is expected to amount to around 13.5 percent in 2008 and 12 percent-13.5 percent in 2009, the World Bank said Tuesday in [its Russian Economic Report] during the first 10 months of the year. …” [Prime-Tass (Russia)/Factiva]

World Bank Forecasts Low Remittances To Tanzania

“Remittances from Tanzanians living abroad are projected to decrease due to the global financial crisis. The World Bank forecasts that [during] 2006 and 2007, remittances for Tanzania reached $14 million…

According to its latest migration and development forecast, remittances in developing countries would decline by one percent at least from 2008 to 2009. ‘The drop could be as much as six percent,’ noted World Bank Lead Economist Dilip Ratha…” [The Citizen (Tanzania)

Xinhua notes that “…Sub-Saharan Africa took in $19 billion in remittances in 2007, or 2.5 percent of the region's GDP, according to World Bank figures. In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria and Kenya net the largest and second largest yearly remittance incomes.”[Xinhua/Factiva]

Also in this Edition… Briefly Noted…

Zambia's external debt stock for both public and private sectors rose to $2 billion at the end of last year from $1.8 billion recorded in December 2006. The latest report of the parliamentary committee on economic affairs and labor, states that the increase represents a 10.1 percent. [BBC Monitoring Africa/Factiva]

Rwandahas the best Universal Primary Education in the East African region. It has an enrollment rate of 97 percent of 2.2 million children according to the World Bank and UN Development Program. Rwanda is now moving to shift secondary school enrollment from 20 percent to now 37 percent in just two years. [The Independent (Uganda)]

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank granted a combined $1 billion in loans to Thailand to finance infrastructure projects, Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech said Tuesday. The agencies will each provide $500 million early next year. Most of the loans will be used to develop mass-transit projects, Suchart told reporters. [Dow Jones/Factiva]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed a $518 million line of credit for Serbia to help the country weather the global financial crisis, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Monday. Strauss-Kahn said in a statement the proposed 15-month standby arrangement would be available for Serbia to draw on if needed amid the financial turbulence. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]  

Poland may ask the World Bank to help fund investments in its troubled coal sector, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Joanna Strzelec-Lobodzinska was quoted as saying on Monday. She said the World Bank could help with financing investments that would provide access to new coal fields and help the country's energy security, PAP news agency reported. [Reuters/Factiva]

Goods traffic through the Suez Canal has started to show the effects of slower world economic growth, Suez Canal Authority, Chairman Ahmed Ali Fadel said on Monday. [Reuters/Factiva]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, with the help of the Emir of Qatar, has conveyed more than 20 heads of state and governments to Doha on November 28 to discuss the global financial crisis, the UN said Monday. [Agence France Press/Factiva]