From the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals

Here’s a paper I did with Jodie Keane and Yurendra Basnett of the Overseas Development Institute. It uses a series of trade diagnostic studies from the Pacific island countries to argue (amongst other things) the following:

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will be adopted in 2015 need to include a commitment to deliver a new global trade framework for the world’s least developed countries and small-island states, such as the Pacific Island Countries.

• Market access will be meaningless without increasing productive capacity. Focus also needs to also be placed on behind-the-border measures including on rules of origin, supporting adherence to standards, and ensuring that aid for trade is additional and targeted.

• Regional trade agreements are changing the global trade landscape and shaping the future trading opportunities for the Pacific. There is a need to ensure small and economically powerless countries are not adversely affected by such agreements, nor their aspirations to achieve regional integration undermined.