PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/283

TRADE POLICY REVIEW:

Further reforms needed to sustain fast economic growth

India’s economic performance has continued to be impressive since 2001/02 and growth has been particularly rapid since 2003/04 averaging over 8.5% with over 9% expected for 2006/07. This performance is largely due to unilateral trade and structural reforms, in particular in services, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of India. Rapid economic growth has also resulted in an improvement in social indicators such as poverty and infant mortality.

See also:
  

The report notes that if India’s high rates of economic growth are to be sustained, reforms need to be deepened, in particular to address infrastructure bottlenecks such as transport and electricity, which continue to constrain growth. In addition further structural reforms will be required in agriculture, to address the sector’s relatively low productivity and the problems faced by marginal farmers.

Continued structural reform, the report notes, together with greater investment in physical and human capital would also help to generate much needed productive employment for new entrants to the labour force.

The report, along with a policy statement by the Government of India, will be the basis for the fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of India by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 23 and 25 May 2007.

SEE ALSO 

> Full list of previous TPRs
  

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government, will be the basis for the Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

  

Note  back to top

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

 

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

Central African Republic: 11 and 13 June 2007
Indonesia: 27 and 29 June 2007
Bahrain: 18 and 20 July 2007

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