In most developing economies, industrialization has constituted a major objective of development strategy and government policy. It has been recognized that rapid industrial growth is…

TIPS is holding an introductory training workshop on basic market analysis for the National Department of Agriculture from 17 to 18 July 2007 in Pretoria. The course is based on the use of the International Trade Centre's (ITC's) online Market Analysis Tools - TradeMap, ProductMap and Market Access Map -…

Business Day - 13 July 2007

The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) is just over a year old but has quickly established itself as a force to be taken seriously. From its comprehensive reports on SA's electricity crisis to its two landmark petroleum pipeline decisions, it has show that it is a regulator in the true sense of the word and not a negotiator.

View the attached news article to read more.

 

Liberalisation of goods trade has enjoyed substantial advances in Southern Africa in recent years, notably through the SADC and COMESA free trade agreements (FTAs). Notwith-standing ongoing problems with rules of origin pertaining to tariff concessions, tariff rates have been reduced substantially and processes established to liberalize and/or harmonize services trade…

TIPS is pleased to announce the launch of a new development-focused research network funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). SADRN's broad objectives are to: Increase the supply of policy-relevant research in the SADC region by creating a pool of suitably-skilled researchers based in institutions in SADC, Improve the…

In this edition of the Monitor, we focused on five thematic areas: labour market dynamics; technology and innovation; trade liberalisation; regional trends; and sector strategies.

Features: TIPS Conference on Privatisation, Competition and Regulation in South Africa Some Themes Covered: William H. Melody The Triumph and Tragedy of Human Capital: Foundation Resource for Building Network Knowledge Economies Efficiency and Road Privatisation: Bidding, Tolling and the "User Pays" Principle Anthony Leiman Rolfe Eberhard Economic Regulation of Water

Focusing on the TIPS/DPRU Forum 2003 entitled The Challenge of Growth and Poverty: The contents include articles by Trevor Manuel (The SA Economy Since Democracy Sustainable Solutions Needed for Economic Growth and Development), Alan Hirsch and Neva Makgetla (The Next Decade in SA: Challenges for Ensuring Welfare-Enhancing Growth. Other articles include: The Economic Rationale for SMME Promotion in SA, a note on the pace of Tanzanias Privatisation programme by Reg Rumney, and a focus on SA's GDFI and Capital StockGrowth by Donald Onyango

This edition of the Trade and Industry Monitor features an article on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) by Ron Sandrey (economic research co-ordinator at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), and a piece on the failed WTO talks in Cancun by Bernard Hoekman of the World Bank . The complete list of articles includes: Mmatlou KalabaSA Trade at a Glance Stephen HanivalUnlocking the Benefits of Trade Policy Ron SandreyNTMs: The Bigger Picture for SA and Southern Africa Myriam Velia & Imraan ValodiaKZN Trade with the Rest of the WorldPost-1994: Emerging Trends Rob Davies & Dirk van SeventerIs the Public…

" In this edition of the Trade and Industry Monitor we feature two articles on South Africa's (SA's) presence in key traded product markets, and a report on some of the likely implications of the planned European Union (EU) expansion. In the first paper on the theme of dynamic products, TIPS' chief economist Dirk van Seventer and former TIPS researcher Katherine Gibson note that SA's presence in dynamic world product markets is low, with the exception of diamonds. Moreover, Van Seventer and Gibson's research suggests that of SA's top 10 products (by market share) in the dynamic products group, more…

In this edition of the Trade & Industry Monitor, we focus on various aspects of economic development: high-technology product trade performance; whether technology usage facilitates goods and services exports; lessons on successful poverty reduction efforts; and how constructive partnerships between governments, civil action groups and other parties can assist development efforts.

This edition of the Monitor is loosely themed around trade policy in support of the breakthrough in World Trade Organisation (WTO)negotiations on negotiations. Whilst some have hailed this as an historic breakthrough partly because for the first time all member states have agreed to the (eventual) abolition of all forms of agricultural subsidies not all trade watchers are as optimistic. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, for example, has argued that the success was achieved only because the bar was set exceedingly low.

This edition of the Trade & Industry Monitor considers various aspects of trade policy and its influence on development and growth. The first article by Cosatus Tanya van Meelis and Neva Makgetla looks at the impact of trade on economic structure, and is a response to Xavier Carim of the dtis article, South Africas Trade Policy: Ten Years On, which was published in the September 2004 Monitor edition. The article points out that simply growing trade in its current form might assist in maintaining macroeconomic stability, but will not do much to create employment or support increased equality. It suggests…

In this this edition of the Trade and Industry Monitor we include a special focus by Lawrence Edwards and Tijl van de Winkel of the School of Economics, UCT, who analyse the impact of trade liberalisation on the pricing behaviour of SA industries. In our Focus on Data section, we examine current bilateral trade patterns between SA and China, and the question of which goods SA should target in the event of Free Trade Area negotiations. Looking to the African continent, our next article -More and Fairer Trade for Africa, released by the Commission for Africa - further examines the…

In April of this year, the World Bank, in collaboration with TIPS and the Witwatersrand University, hosted a seminar on the implica-tions of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) for Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). The seminar reported on the findings of a major international research project investigating the market, welfare and poverty impacts of a potential DDA. Building on the seminar discussions, this edition of the Trade & Industry Monitor examines the extent to which various regions, and the world as a whole, could gain from multilateral trade reform over the next decade.

Economists generally see industrial policy as a very broad concept incorporating a range of other mainly but not exclusively, economic policies as part of the industrial policy toolbox. Trade and competition policy are at least at a theoretical level firmly part of this. However in practice, in the cut and thrust of trade negotiations, and the legalese of merger filings this is often forgotten. In this edition of the Monitor we feature a number of articles which remind us of the often profound implications which trade and competition policy can have for industrial development. In the article by Xavier Carim…

In this edition of the Trade & Industry Monitor we focus on the impact of the global economy on developing countries, particularly in terms of the measures and responses available to them in the industrial and trade policy arenas. In our Special Focus article, Ha-Joon Chang notes that the changing global environment has put new restrictions on the conduct of industrial policy. Especially for developing countries, the available policy space is constantly under pressure. However, for Chang this does not spell the end of industrial policy; it only means that countries need to be more creative in policy design and…

The revision process that was carried out on the 2006 Southern African trade data has been completed. The 2006 data (for most of the SADC member states) are back online - please visit the database at http://www.sadctrade.org/tradedata. If you have questions around the Southern African trade database, please contact Mmatlou Kalaba.

�Â� The successful and rapid progression of the Eastern and Southern African integration process needs to be underpinned by comprehensive expertise from the region, including government, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and academics. Regional integration has become increasingly important and affects many countries worldwide. The importance of regional integration for…