Manama: The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) adjourned a high-level conference titled ‘Trade and Flag: The Changing Balance of Power in the Multilateral Trading System’ on Tuesday afternoon in Bahrain.
The conference debated issues including the challenge of regionalism to multilateral trading systems, the emergence of new ‘regional’ trading blocs, namely the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as well as the consequences of regionalism for global companies that are dependent on global supply chains.
During the conference, Pascal Lamy, Former Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), challenged what power means in the realm of world trade as he contended ‘power, on balance, lies with the importer rather than the exporter’. Furthermore, Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, former Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Former Director-General, WTO, argued ‘market access doesn’t necessarily translate into development’.
“In order to understand the true potential for economic growth, both nationally and regionally, we need to understand some of the key issues that are affecting global and regional markets,” Kamal bin Ahmed, Minister of Transportation, and Acting Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said.
“It is through discussions such as the ones hosted by the IISS that we are able to bring various issues to the table, as well as discuss them with industry leaders, allowing us to paint a clear picture of the economic situation today. We look forward to continued high level forums and conferences hosted by the IISS,” the Minister added.
The conference, organised by the IISS Geo-economics and Strategy Research Programme, which studies shifting economic power and geopolitics, is the sixth in a series which have brought world-class experts, statesmen and business leaders to Bahrain.