Trade

In today’s economically integrated world, trade matters more than ever before. Countries that have intensified their links with the global economy through trade and investment have usually grown more rapidly over a sustained period and have consequently experienced larger reductions in poverty. Unfortunately, many low-income countries have been hindered in their efforts to integrate into the global economy by inadequate policies, institutions, and infrastructure, on one hand, and by a variety of rich country protectionist measures and other policies that restrict low-income countries’ exports, on the other.