"The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's trade performance over the past two decades has been disappointing. Efforts to boost trade through a plethora of regional trade agreements (RTAs) are underway. This study examines the potential contribution of regional trade agreements, as well...

The international community finds itself at a crossroads as it approaches the last quarter of 2003. Will the Doha Agenda regenerate the multilateral consensus that has been the hallmark of successive rounds of trade liberalization since 1947 and in doing so provide new impetus for global...

The Doha Development Agenda of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO opened many contentious and important questions. Global Economic Prospects 2004: Realizing the Development Promise of the Doha Agenda analyzes the most critical multilateral trade issues and suggests policy options that...

"The main objective of this paper is to provide an ex-ante assessment of the poverty and income distribution impacts of the Central American Free Trade Area agreement on Nicaragua. The authors use a general equilibrium macro model to simulate trade reform scenarios and estimate their price...

"The authors examine the economic case for the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement signed on January 6, 2004 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. They start with a detailed analysis of the preferential trading arrangements in South Asia to look at...

Stronger regional integration has been a policy priority in Africa for several decades. Countries in Africa have committed to a process of deeper integration, but have made little progress in implementing commitments and removing barriers. This report looks at the monitoring of regional...