Background info
Trade within and between nations plays a major role in economic development, creating employment opportunities and generating wealth. Trade also enhances global peace since nations have to rely on each other for supply of commodities, services and technologies that cannot be internally produced. Recent trends in global trade show that trade balance is increasingly tilting in the favor of developed countries. The developed countries, mostly in western Europe and Northern America, but also in Asia, are gaining an advantage due to their heavy investments in new advanced technologies, stronger negotiating abilities but also due to their ability to influence the setting up of rules and regulations that govern trade between nations, more so those that are enforced through the World Trade Organization or through multilateral and bilateral agreements. Quite often trade negotiations have been protracted to the extent of being acrimonious with stakeholders split between those for or against potential compromises. This page will provide links to information resources on the issue of trade, its impact on society and the pursuit of fairness in international trade engagements.
Downloadable links
- Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Community (EC) and its member states. This link provides information on the framework for an EPA between EAC & EC states as published in a Kenyan local daily (The Daily Nation) on December 10, 2007.
