World Trade Organization (WTO)
•An organization for liberalizing trade; a forum for
gov’ts. to negotiate trade agreements and settle
trade disputes
•Guided by agreements negotiated and signed by
the bulk of the world’s trading nations
•Covers trade in goods, services and intellectual
property
•Born in 1995 (previously the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provided the rules)
•160 members as of 2014, but most
decisions made by G7 – Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA
World Bank – est. 1944
• Goals are to end extreme poverty (those living
on less than $1.25/day) and promote growth of
the bottom 40% of every country
• Source of financial and technical assistance to
developing countries
• Offers low-interest loans, credit, grants, training
and expertise to governments and private
sectors in fields of education, health, public
administration, infrastructure, resource
management, etc.
• Promotes foreign direct investment into
developing countries
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• 188 members
• The IMF's primary purpose is to ensure the
stability of the international monetary
system—the system of exchange rates and
international payments that enables
countries (and their citizens) to transact with
each other.
• Advises member countries and offers
financial and technical assistance to improve
economies
HIPC – Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
HIPCs are eligible for debt relief (offered by IMF and World
Bank) b/c they face an unsustainable debt situation even
after traditional debt relief measures have been attempted.