Akriti Dharendra asked: What is the future of WTO & Bretton Woods Institutions in the light of the establishment of BRICS Bank & the emergence of multilateral agreements like TPP & RCEP?

Jagannath Prasad Panda replies: The establishment of BRICS Development Bank is a progressive aspect of the world politics which indicate that the influence and economic clout of developing countries or emerging economies is on ascendancy. BRICS began with an economic mandate, advocating a transparent and an equitable global governance process in favour of the developing world, and to bring parity between the North and the South. In this context, BRICS Development Bank is an initiative to address the financial need and requirement of the developing world and pressurise the developed world to reform the Bretton Woods financial institutions. Therefore, sooner or later, the WTO and other Bretton Woods Institutions would have to be reformed to make them more equitable for both the developed and the developing world.

On the other hand, multilateral agreements like TPP and RCEP indicate that the regional and global economic multilateralism is on constant move. New ideas, concepts and multilateral trade agreements will be the driving force of regional and global trade liberalising process and politics. The economic influence of countries like China and India will increase where multilateral bodies like APEC and RCEP will be the central focus of these new agreements.

For more analysis on the subject, please refer to my following publications:

“Factoring the RCEP and the TPP: China, India and the Politics of Regional Integration,” Strategic Analysis, 38 (1), January 2014, pp. 49-67.

“BRICS and the China-India Construct: A New World Order In Making?,” IDSA Monograph Series No. 24, 2013.

“BRICS Development Bank: Figuring out the Durban Bid,” IDSA Comment, March 08, 2013.

Posted on September 04, 2014