Cape Verde - Diagnostic Trade Inttegration study Update - 2013

This Report is an update of the Cape Verde Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, titled Cape Verde’s Insertion into the Global Economy, produced and validated by the Government of Cape Verde in December 2008. Like the previous 2008 study, this Cape Verde Diagnostic Trade Integration Study Update provides a critical examination of the major institutional and production constraints that hinder Cape Verde’s ability to capitalize fully on the growth and welfare gains from its integration into the world economy. As a policy report, this study offers a set of priority policies and measures that can be implemented by both the public and private sectors to mitigate and surmount these supply side and institutional constraints. These recommendations are summarized in an Action Matrix. The Report is fruit of the generous support of the multi-donor program the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). In every crisis there is an opportunity. Four years after the validation of the country’s first Diagnostic Trade Integration Study in 2008, Cape Verde finds itself in a drastically altered external environment. Cape Verde faces a worsened external environment than four years ago, when it was also traversing years of crisis as global food and energy prices escalated. Just as the country was validating its first trade study in late 2008, and celebrating its graduation from the list of Least Developed Countries, the onset of the deepest global recession in recent memory triggered an even worse external situation as the country’s principal source of markets, investments, remittances and aid, the Eurozone, unraveled economically and politically. As the Eurozone crisis spread, it was Cape Verde’s misfortune that the crisis contaminated precisely its biggest Eurozone partners and donors, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. For such a highly dependent and exposed economy like that of Cape Verde, the deteriorating external sector has had a substantial negative impact on its macroeconomic performance. At the time of the validation workshop and graduation in 2008, no one could have foreseen or predicted the severity of the global crisis that followed. Despite traversing these years of adversity and external shocks, and suffering palpable setbacks, Cape Verde’s economy had proven surprisingly resilient, especially its principal sector, tourism. To its great credit, the country’s economic fundamentals are solid, and have been carefully and prudently managed over the years. For this reason alone, the country has thus far weathered the global and Eurozone crisis. Yet the near and medium term future remains uncertain. The country’s margin for maneuver has narrowed, its options far more limited, and hard choices lie ahead. Thus, there is no better time than now to analyze Cape Verde’s position in the global economy, and to examine the many challenges and opportunities it faces. The first diagnostic trade study outlined an ambitious agenda and set of policy strategies to enhance Cape Verde’s participation in the global economy. Written prior to the global crisis, the study did not, and could not, anticipate the scope and depth of the subsequent global and Eurozone crises. A few short months before the validation of the first DTIS Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). It has spent these four years adjusting to this status and implementing its commitments. At the same time, the country seeks greater economic integration with the European Union. Since 2008 the government has been investing heavily in the country’s economic infrastructure, focusing especially on fostering transformation in key sectors like agriculture, fisheries, tourism and creative industries. For these and many other reasons, it is both timely and urgent to review the road traveled since 2008. It is an opportune moment to reassess the country’s options, to rethink strategies, and to chart a new way forward that it is practical, implementable, and that builds on the country’s competitive advantages and current successes.

The Energy metabolism of China and India between 1971-2010: studying the bifurcation

This paper presents a comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern of China and India, the two most populated countries in the world, with two economies undergoing an important economic transition. The comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern has the scope to characterize and explain a bifurcation in their evolutionary path in the recent years, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach. The analysis shows an impressive transformation of China’s energy metabolism determined by the joining of the WTO in 2001. Since then, China became the largest factory of the world with a generalized capitalization of all sectors ―especially the industrial sector― boosting economic labor productivity as well as total energy consumption. India, on the contrary, lags behind when considering these factors. Looking at changes in the household sector (energy metabolism associated with final consumption) in the case of China, the energetic metabolic rate (EMR) soared in the last decade, also thanks to a reduced growth of population, whereas in India it remained stagnant for the last 40 years. This analysis indicates a big challenge for India for the next decade. In the light of the data analyzed both countries will continue to require strong injections of technical capital requiring a continuous increase in their total energy consumption. When considering the size of these economies it is easy to guess that this may induce a dramatic increase in the price of energy, an event that at the moment will penalize much more the chance of a quick economic development of India.

The impact of further tariff reduction on the EU sugar sector in the forthcoming multilateral round

Selostus: WTO:n kauppaneuvotteluissa esitettyjen tuontitullien alentamisvaihtoehtojen vaikutukset EU:n sokerimarkkinoihin

World Democratic Governance

The unsustainable politically speaking institutional bipolarisation and recent events in the world arena (11 September 2001, unilateralism and the illegal war brought against Iraq by the USA, failures and blockage of WTO negotiating rounds at Seattle and Cancun, merely rhetorical results from the latest UN summits in Monterrey and Johannesburg) only serves to show just how completely outdated the system of international institutions, born after the Second World War, has become.It is vital, then, for us to establish a new system of global democratic governance, and this entails, amongst other things, In-depth reform of the system of international institutions.

International comparison of Russian food processing industry -Finnish perspective

Työn päätavoitteena on kartoittaa Venäjän elintarviketeollisuutta ulkomaisen investoijan näkökulmasta. Tutkimus arvioi liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja kilpailutilannetta Venäjän elintarviketeollisuudessa ja auttaa ulkomaisia yrityksiä toteuttamaan liiketoimintastrategioitaan Venäjällä. Venäjän ja muiden siirtymätalousmaiden markkinatilannevertailujen lisäksi Venäjän alueita verrataan keskenään. Myös mahdollisen WTO jäsenyyden vaikutuksia arvioidaan. Kommunismin perintö vaikuttaa edelleen Venäjän elintarviketeollisuuteen ja maatalouteen. Maatalouden tuottavuus on kaukana länsimaisesta tasosta ja maatiloilta puuttuu rahoitusta. Etenkin maidon- ja lihanjalostajat kärsivät raaka-ainepulasta. Venäjän kriisi vuonna 1998 vahvisti paikallista teollisuustuotantoa mutta aiheutti ongelmia ulkomaisille investoijille ja yrityksille, jotka vievät tuotteitaan Venäjälle. Edut, joita mahdollinen maailmankauppajärjestö WTO:n jäsenyys tuo, ovat merkittävämpiä Venäjälle kuin sen kauppakumppaneille. Venäjän alueet eivät ole yhtäläisesti kehittyneitä ja kuluttajien ostovoima vaihtelee paljon. Itsestään selvin ja houkuttelevin vaihtoehto menestyvien elintarvikeyritysten laajentumiselle löytyy alueilta, joilla ostovoima on suurin. Tähän asti kansainväliset elintarvikeyritykset ovat olleet enemmän kiinnostuneita Itä- ja Keski-Euroopan maista. Käytettävissä olevat tulot ovat Itä- ja Keski-Euroopan maissa suurempia kuin Venäjällä, joten tuottajat pystyvät myymään myös kalliimpia tuotteita. Työvoimakustannukset Venäjällä tulevat olemaan suotuisia vielä muutaman vuosikymmenen ja markkinoiden koko on merkittävä. Siksi kansainvälisillä elintarvikeyrityksillä riittää kiinnostusta tulevaisuudessa investoida myös Venäjälle.

Nationalekonomi

Samlingen med signum ESF Nat.ek. finns vid Institutionen för samhällsekonomi och statistik i anslutning till ämnet Nationalekonomi. Vid huvudbiblioteket finns också en samling nationalekonomiskt litteratur. Ekonomisk historia och doktrinhistoria samt nationalekonomiska klassiker är väl representerade i samlingen. Under professor Carl Erik Knoellingers era 1942-1968 utvecklades institutions¬biblioteket till ett av ÅA:s största och mest mångsidiga med god täckning beträffande skandinavisk och engelskspråkig litteratur inom nationalekonomi. Nationalekonomiskt litteratur har ingått i bokdonationer såväl från hemlandet som från Skandinavien och Förenta staterna. Några större donationer kan nämnas, främst en efterkrigstida donation kallad ”amerikagåvan” samt professor Knoellingers samling med arbetsmarknads¬frågor som specialintresse. Från 1950-talet till 2003 anlände material från the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) och the World Trade Organization (WTO) som deposition. Den nationalekonomiska litteraturen söks i Alma med sökfunktionen Signum och söktermen ESF Nat.ek. En del litteratur tryckt före 1980 skall sökas manuellt i institutionens kortkatalog, men retroaktiv inmatning i Alma av litteratur tryckt mellan 1830 och 1979 pågår.

Foodstuffs and medicines as legal categories in the EU and China. Functional foods as a borderline case

The thesis discusses the regulation of foodstuffs and medicines, and particularly the regulation of functional foods. Legal systems investigated are the EU and China. Both are members of the WTO and Codex Alimentarius, which binds European and Chinese rules together. The study uses three Chinese berries as case examples of how product development faces regulation in practice. The berries have traditional uses as herbal medicines. Europe and China have similar nutrition problems to be resolved, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The three berries might be suitable raw materials for functional foods. Consumer products with health-enhancing functions, such as lowering blood pressure, might legally be classifi ed either as foodstuffs or medicines. The classifi cation will depend on functions and presentation of the product. In our opinion, food and medicine regulation should come closer together so the classifi cation issue would no longer be an issue. Safety of both foodstuffs and medicines is strictly regulated. With medicines, safety is a more relative concept, where benefi ts of the product are compared to side-effects in thorough scientifi c tests and trials. Foods, on the other hand, are not allowed to have side-effects. Hygiene rules and rules on the use of chemicals apply. In China, food safety is currently at focus as China has had several severe food scandals. Newly developed foods are called novel foods, and are specifi cally regulated. The current European novel food regulation from 1997 treats traditional third country products as novel. The Chinese regulation of 2007 also defi nes novel foods as something unfamiliar to a Chinese consumer. The concepts of novel food thus serve a protectionist purpose. As regards marketing, foods are allowed to bear health claims, whereas medicines bear medicinal claims. The separation is legally strict: foods are not to be presented as having medicinal functions. European nutrition and health claim regulation exists since 2006. China also has its regulation on health foods, listing the permitted claims and how to substantiate them. Health claims are allowed only on health foods. The European rules on medicines include separate categories for herbal medicines, traditional herbal medicines, and homeopathic medicines, where there are differing requirements for scientifi c substantiation. The scientifi c and political grounds for the separate categories provoke criticism. At surface, the Chinese legal system seems similar to the European one. To facilitate trade, China has enacted modern laws. Laws are needed as the country moves from planned economy to market economy: ‘rule of law’ needs to replace ‘rule of man’. Instead of being citizens, Chinese people long were subordinates to the Emperor. Confucius himself advised to avoid confl ict. Still, Chinese people do not and cannot always trust the legal system, as laws are enforced in an inconsistent manner, and courts are weak. In China, there have been problems with confl icting national and local laws. In Europe, the competence of the EU vs. the competence of the Member States is still not resolved, even though the European Commission often states that free trade requires harmonisation. Food and medicine regulation is created by international organisations, food and medicine control agencies, standards agencies, companies and their organisations. Regulation can be divided in ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’. One might claim that hard law is in crisis, as soft law is gaining importance. If law is out of fashion, regulation certainly isn’t. In the future, ‘law’ might mean a process where rules and incentives are created by states, NGOs, companies, consumers, and other stakeholders. ‘Law’ might thus refer to a constant negotiation between public and private actors. Legal principles such as transparency, equal treatment, and the right to be heard would still be important.

Välitystoimintaa harjoittavan yhtiön liiketoimintamallit puolivalmisteiden tuontiin Venäjältä

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tavoitteena on kuvata mahdolliset liiketoimintamallit tuontitoimintaa harjoittavissa yrityksissä Venäjältä Suomeen ja laajemmin Euroopan Unioniin. Lisäksi tavoitteena on selvittää, mitkä ovat välitysliiketoiminnan menestystekijät ja riskit Venäjän tuonnissa. Arvioimme myös Venäjän WTO- jäsenyyden vaikutusta tälläiseen liiketoimintaan. Venäjä on Suomelle tärkeä kauppakumppani. Venäjän suuret luonnonvarat ja niitä jalostavan teollisuuden tuottamat puolivalmisteet ovat kiinnostava raaka-ainelähde Suomen ja Euroopan Unionin sisämarkkinoiden yrityksille. Puolivalmisteiden välitystoimintaa Venäjältä Suomeen on harjoitettu vuosikymmeniä. Pyrimme mallintamaan välitystoiminnan menestykseen ja riskeihin liittyviä tekijöitä työn tilaajalle, Imatran Seudun Kehitysyhtiö Oy:lle.

Logistics of North-West Russia and Rail Baltica: Standpoints of Private Sector

The main aims of the present report are to describe the current state of railway transport in Russia, and to gather standpoints of Russian private transportation logistics sector towards the development of new railway connection called Rail Baltica Growth Corridor, connecting North-West Russia with Germany through the Baltic States and Poland. North-West Russia plays important role not only in Russian logistics, but also wider European markets as in container sea ports handling is approx. 2.5 mill. TEU p.a. and handling volume in all terminals is above 190 million tons p.a. The whole transportation logistics sector is shortly described as an operational environment for railways – this is done through technical and economic angles. Transportation development is always going in line with economics of the country, so the analysis on economical development is also presented. Logistics integration of the country is strongly influenced by its engagement in the international trade. Although, raw material handling at sea ports and container transports (imports) are blossoming, domestic transportation market is barely growing (in long-term perspective). Thus, recent entrance of Russia into World Trade Organization (WTO) is analyzed theme in this research, as the WTO is an important regulator of the foreign trade and enabler of volume growth in foreign trade related transportation logistics. However, WTO membership can influence negatively the development of Russia’s own industry and its volumes (these have been uncompetitive in global markets for decades). Data gathering in empirical part was accomplished by semi-structured case study interviews among North-West Russian logistics sector actors (private). These were conducted during years 2012-2013, and research compiles findings out of ten case company interviews. Although, there was no sea port involved in the study, most of the interviewed companies relied in European Logistics within significant parts in short sea shipping and truck combined transportation chains (in Russian part also using railways). As the results of the study, it could be concluded that Rail Baltica is seen as possible transport corridor in most of the interviewed companies, if there is enough cargo available. However, interviewees are a bit sceptical, because major and large-scale infrastructural improvements are needed. Delivery time, frequency and price level are three main factors influencing the attractiveness of Rail Baltica route. Price level is the most important feature, but if RB can offer other advantages such as higher frequency, shorter lead times or more developed set of value-added services, then some flexibility is possible for the price level. Environmental issues are not the main criteria of today, but are recognized and discussed among customers. Great uncertainty exists among respondents e.g. on forthcoming sulphur oxide ban on Baltic Sea shipping (whether or not it is going to be implemented in Russia). Rather surprisingly, transportation routes to Eastern Europe and Mediterranean area are having higher value and price space than those to Germany/Central Europe. Border crossing operations (traction monopoly at rails and customs), gauge widths as well as unclear decision-making processes (in Russia), are named as hindering factors. Performance standards for European connected logistics among Russian logistics sector representatives are less demanding as compared to neighbourhood countries belonging to EU.

Konttikuljetusten kehitystrendit ja niiden vaikutukset kuljetusvälineisiin ja satamiin Suomen konttiliikenteessä

Tutkielman aiheena ovat kontainerisaatio ja sen keskeiset kehitystrendit ja niiden vaikutukset Suomen konttiliikenteeseen. Kontainerisaation taustalla ovat maailmankaupan voimakas kasvu ja globalisaatio eli kansallisten rajojen merkityksen pieneneminen ja lisääntynyt vuorovaikutus valtioiden ja alueiden välillä. Kuljetusteknologiassa tapahtuneet muutokset, kuten lastinkäsittelylaitteiston tehostuminen ja intermodalisaatio ovat mahdollistaneet kehityksen. Joistakin satamista on tullut suuria liikenteen solmukohtia, joissa mannertenvälisen liikenteen konttiliikenne yhdistetään mantereen sisäiseen. Satamien kasvu on seurausta varustamojen pyrkimyksestä keskittää palveluitaan tavoitellessaan suuruuden ekonomiaa. Pyrkimys suuruuden ekonomiaan on kasvattanut myös kuljetusvälineidein kokoa. Näistä lähtökohdista tämän tutkielman tutkimuskysymyksiksi muodostui 1.) Miten konttikuljetusten kasvu on vaikuttanut kuljetusvälineiden kokoon ja toimitusketjuun konttien merikuljetuksissa? ja 2.) Ilmenevätkö em. vaikutukset Suomessa samanlaisina verrattuna muuhun maailmaan? Tutkielman aineisto on empiiristä ja hankittu suurilta tilastotietoa tuottavilta julkisilta organisaatioilta, kuten WTO:lta, UNCTADilta ja Liikennevirastolta. Tarkoituksena on tilastollisen aineiston avulla kuvata konttiliikenteen kehittymistä ja vastata tutkimuskysymyksiin. Tutkimusote on näin ollen nomoteettinen. Konttiliikenne on kasvanut voimakkaasti 2000-luvun aikana ja suurimmat satamat ovat siirtyneet Euroopasta ja Pohjois-Amerikasta Aasiaan, jossa sijaitsee nyt 9 maailman 10 suurimmasta konttisatamasta. Samalla tarkastelujaksolla sekä konttilaivojen määrä, että niiden lastinkantokapasiteetti on noussut merkittävästi. Kokonaiskonttikapasiteetti on kuitenkin noussut nopeammin, joten laivojen keskimääräinen koko on kasvanut. Teknisiä esteitä yhä suurempien alusten rakentamiseksi ei ole ja näyttää siltä, että laivojen keskikoko tulee vielä kasvamaan. Satamien keskittymisestä ja aluskoon kasvusta on haettu mittakaavaetuja myös Suomessa, mutta kehitystä jarruttaa maantieteelliset rajoitteet ja tavaravirtojen ohuus. Vuonna 2013 Suomen konttikuljetukset olivat erittäin keskittyneet kolmen suurimman sataman yhteenlasketun liikenteen ollessa lähes 90 % kokonaisvolyymista. Suomen konttivolyymit ovat kansainvälisesti verrattuna kuitenkin niin pieniä, että todennäköisesti kaksikin satamaa riittäisi palvelemaan koko maan konttiliikenteen tarpeita. Tämä toisi mittakaavaetuja ja sitä kautta säästöjä kuljetuskustannuksiin. Mittakaavaedut laivojen koon suhteen on vaikeammin toteutettavissa, sillä se vaatisi huomattavia investointeja satamien infrastruktuuriin.

Les investissements étrangers directs en Chine : vers un équilibre entre la protection des investisseurs et la protection du marché chinois

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en droit, option droit commercial". Ce mémoire a été accepté à l'unanimité et classé parmi les 10% des mémoires de la discipline.

L'accord de Cotonou et les contradictions du droit international : l'intégration des règles de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce et des droits humains dans la coopération ACP-CE

"Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures de l'Université de Montréal en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en Droit (LL.D.) Et à A la faculté de droit Jean Monnet en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en Sciences Juridiques"

Les politiques et pratiques commerciales québécoises en matière de boissons alcooliques dans le contexte du droit commercial international

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en Droit (LL.M.)"