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UN calls for more inclusive and caring economies

Thursday September 14 2017
muchanga

Albert M. Muchanga, the Commissioner for Trade and Development at the African Union speaking at he launch of UNCTAD's The Global New Deal report at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 14, 2017. PHOTO | ANDUALEM SISAY

By ANDUALEM SISAY

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Thursday launched a new report calling for more inclusive, sustainable and caring economies.

The Global New Deal, launched in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said the Recovery with Regulatory reforms and Redistribution policies (3Rs) were as relevant today as they were at the launch of the the New Deal in the 1930s.

According to the report, good lessons can be obtained from the previous successful global deals that followed the World War II, such as, the Marshal Plan and the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"We received your [UNCTAD] message on global new agenda for the 21st Century global economic recovery, reform and redistribution,” said Mr Albert M. Muchanga, the Commissioner for Trade and Development at the African Union.

“We are not too hopeful here. This is because the key players in the global economy are either not sending out clear messages on the future direction of the global economy or are promising us isolationism,” he said.

The new report states that wrong footed macroeconomic policy and corporate rent-seeking behaviour, among others signalled for the need for a Global New Deal.

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“For us in Africa, we welcome initiatives to create a fairer and inclusive world order. But we are in the meantime, going ahead in creating our own future. We are inter-alia, harnessing our demography as a source of competitiveness by investing in our youth since Africa has the youngest population in the world,” Mr Muchanga said. 

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