* Agencies say markets for goods, services must keep open
* World economy facing strong headwinds, joint report says
* Appeal aimed at G20 meeting in Mexico this week
By Robert Evans
GENEVA, Oct 31 (Reuters) – The world’s leading economies
must revitalise both global trade and investment in developing
countries to counter a new slowdown in economic growth, three
key international organisations said on Wednesday.
In a joint report for the G20 group of countries, the World
Trade Organisation, the OECD and UNCTAD also called on them to
work together more closely and ensure they keep their markets
open for each others’ goods and services.
“Over the past five months, the global economy has
encountered increasingly strong headwinds,” the three agencies
said, declaring that the outlook was worse than when they issued
their last report for the grouping in May.
“The world urgently needs a stronger and renewed commitment,
in particular from the G20 economies, to revitalise the
multilateral trading system which can restore economic certainty
at a time when it is badly needed,” they said.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which nosedived after the
2008/9 financial crisis but had been slowly recovering, dropped
again by 8 per cent in the first half of 2012 versus the first
six months of 2011, the report said.
Continued…
