Trade

See also Business and Finance

Pro Poor Tourism
How to put poverty at the heart of the tourism agenda is the subject of a useful 6 page briefing paper (no.51, March 2000) in the ODI/DFID Natural Resource Perspectives series. www.oneworld.org/odi/nrp/ fax + 44 (0) 20 7393 1699.

Tearfund is also urging tourists to be ethical in a June 2000 23 page guide called Tourism: don't forget your ethics, which has a list of organisations and resources on tourism. Tel + 44 (0) 181 977 6061.

An Insights 6 page briefing on ethical trade, with a series of useful websites, was published in March 2001, Tel + 44 (0) 1273 678787 www.id21.org

Improved trade access for LDCs
EU proposals to improve access to the EU market for all products, except armaments, exported from the worlds 48 least developed countries (LDCs) have come under attack from some EU member states, farmers and parts of the multinational sugar industry. Oxfam have published (Jan 2001) a paper commissioned from IDS Sussex, which concludes that the Everything But Arms (EBA ) proposals should be implemented quickly, as a small but significant step to reduce northern protectionism and achieve poverty targets. See www.oxfam.org.uk

Currency trading & Tobin
If introduced, a 0.5% Tobin Tax on the $1.5 trillion in foreign exchange traded every day would raise up to $1 trillion a year - compared to the $50 billion supplied each year in ODA. In Jan 2000 the European Parliament voted 229 to 223 against the Tobin Tax (36 abstained). See article by Dirk Ven Der Maelen MEP in Terraviva issue 43.

Corporate Citizenship Journal
The first issue of the new Journal of Corporate Citizenship came out in Jan 2001. The quarterly 112 page journal will cover social responsibility, accountability standards, stakeholder partnerships, indicators of responsible performance and many other linked issues. For info email Bela Arora at Warwick Business School Tel + 44 (024) 76 573749 or see the web.

Tax Havens
Oxfam's Tax Havens: Releasing the Hidden Billions for Poverty Eradication points out that $55 billion was looted from public funds during the Abacha regime - whereas Nigeria's debt stands at $33 billion. In a 22 page (June 2000) briefing paper, Oxfam makes the link between the world of taxation rates, offshore financial centres, global financial instability and ultimately impact the connection with continuing poverty. Email Jenny Kimmis Tel + 44 (0) 1865 312212 or see www.oxfam.org.uk

See other DI webpages on Business and Finance

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