Trade and Development Report

Focuses on the theme of regional co-operation for development. This report recommends that developing countries should strengthen regional co-operation with other developing countries, whilst proceeding with North-South bilateral or regional preferential trade agreements. The current edition of the report anticipates a fifth consecutive year of overall output growth and continued strong demand for primary commodities contributing to an overall increase in per capita gross domestic product in developing countries. The main risk to this positive scenario, the report warns, is that a major recession in the United States could sharply curtail exports from China and India, which are setting the pace for this growth. The report says regional cooperation can help reduce the vulnerability of developing nations to current account imbalances such as that of the US, and also reduce their vulnerability to major shifts in exchange rates caused by speculative capital flows.