Economic Growth and International Trade (6000 words) Economic Growth and International Trade Global trade has slowed down in the post-2008 global financial crisis which may adversely impact on the new...

Introduction:
According to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 191 UN member states agreed to
achieve 17 goals for a sustainable future. International trade plays a pioneer role as the means of
implementation to accomplish the sustainable development goals. Economic prosperity and
social progress across the globe largely depends on the steady expansion of international trade.
Development of equitable and mutually advantages international trade strengthens the peace and
creates the atmosphere for mutual confidence and understanding that significantly promotes
standard of living and economic progress around the world.
The international development community as well as the policymakers across world, both
developed and developing nations, are looking forward to figure out the road maps how best to
achieve the sustainable developmental goals. At the context of ongoing globalization, trade
policy remains a considerable challenge for the policymakers. The trade policies should ensure
that the outcome must positively influence to achieve the sustainable development goals. There
is no doubt that international trade has opened various opportunities for development but at the
same time it is associated with significant amount of risk that needs to be managed carefully. The
key objective of this study is to examine how international trade helps to achieve Sustainable
Developmental Goal. A good trade policy boosts international trade that in turn contributes to
developmental friendly outcomes and supports to achieve the SDGs. Based on the evolution in
global trade policies, the study further explores the various channels through which trade can
contribute in achieving the SDGs. (Shepherd 2017)
Sustainable Developmental Goal:
The members of United Nations (UN), in September 2015, agreed on a few set of developmental
goals the so called UN sustainable Developmental goals (SDG). The 17 goals and 169 targets are
included in SDGs covers all the areas that incudes heath, poverty, education, environment,
inequality, urbanization, justice and many others. The time horizon for such developmental
efforts is given as 2030. Though SDGs is built upon the outcome of Millennium Developmental
Goals, it is not the extension of MDGs. While MDGs were a set of individual goals, SDGs are a
collective developmental goals broadly covers three major areas- economic social and
environmental. It has paid maximum attention on the inter relation between these three areas.
The common global agreement provides key focus and critical importance on 5 P’s – people,
planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. (UnitedNations 2016)
17 goals to contribute to a sustainable future:
On September 25th 2015, countries adopted a set of 17 developmental goals as a part of new
developmental agenda. Each goal has specific target that needs to be achieved over the time line
of next 15 years. Here is the list of 17 goals :#1No Poverty #2 Zero Hunger #3 Good Health and
wellbeing #4 Quality education #5 Gender equality #6 Clean Water and Sanitation #7
Affordable and Clean Energy #8 Decent Work and economic growth #9Industry Innovation and
infrastructure #10 Reduced Inequalities #11 Sustainable cities and communities #12 Responsible
consumption and production #13Climate action #14 Life below water #15 Life on land #16
Peace Justice and Strong institutions and #17 Partnerships for the goals. Government, business,
community, policy makers and individual – everyone needs to do their part in order to achieve
these sustainable goals and make a sustainable future for all. (UnitedNations 2015)
Role of trade and trade policy in achieving 2030 developmental agenda:
As a part of 2030 Development agenda, 17 highly ambitious goals are set that touches a broad
range of developmental issues from poverty alleviation to zero hunger and quality education to
clean energy. On the process towards implementation, generating sufficient resource and
designing suitable policy framework clearly represents a major challenge. International trade has
a significant role to play in the implementation process in achieving such goals and targets. It is
a widely accepted view that well regulated trade policies can contribute to growth and
sustainable development. International trade can open up various avenues for the countries to
meet their targets and achieve their goals by the given timeline of 2030.
Economists have a widely accepted view that the countries participate in international trade
enjoy higher rate of economic growth though the magnitude of growth rate diverge significantly.
Trade has a profound impact on alleviating poverty and reducing hunger especially in developing
nations. Participation in trade allows the market access of larger and developed nations, opens up
opportunities to specialize in production, enables the consumers to consume goods that are not
produced domestically. Trade policies provide better access to cheaper supplies, stimulates the
flow of foreign direct investment and technology. International trade provides the access to the
world market that can contribute to promote food security across the world.
Role of trade in achieving poverty goal SDG#1
Ending the poverty at all levels is set as the first goal of SDG agenda. Estimated study reveals
that approximately 800 million people still live in acute poverty around the world. Though the
number of people living in extreme poverty conditions has significantly dropped since 1990, a
lot need to be done. Children are the worst victims of poverty- according to recent statistics,
1800 children die every single day due to poverty related causes.
Trade integration has a noticeable impact on poverty reduction and help to achieve sustained
economic growth. Trade is the key to stimulate economic growth – no country has come out
from acute poverty without international trade. International trade facilities the poorest countries
the access to global markets and create the job opportunities that in turn help to eradicate
poverty. The initiative Aid for Trade is specially introduced to overcome all the constraints that
deter to enjoy the benefits of trade. It is a tool that interlocks aid with trade policies aiming to
reduce the poverty and increase the living standards. The key objective is to eradicate the poverty
in poor countries and redistribute the benefits more equitably among the developing nations. Aid
for Trade can be an important instrument for achieving the end of poverty goal in development
agenda. Trade allows the developing countries to have an access to wider market and better
technology that would improve their productivity and enhance...