In today’s globalised economy, understanding global value chains (GVCs) is essential for the development of trade and investment. This article presents a number of options on how the global trade system can promote the effective integration and upgrading of countries in these GVCs Today, we live in a globalised and networked economy led by investment flows. Global value chains (GVCs) involve a wide range of actors and institutions and span a broad number of trade and investment disciplines. This complexity has made GVCs a challenge for policy-makers. Promoting a better understanding of GVC implications from a sustainable development and international governance perspective is thus a critical task. As a contribution to this process, the E15 Expert Group on Global Value Chains, convened by ICTSD and the World Economic Forum in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, has examined the challenges and opportunities that the expansion and consolidation of GVCs has created for global trade governance and economic development. The outcome of this expert dialogue process is a set of forward-looking policy options presented herein. New challenges Global value chains are a product of trade policy reforms combined with the lowering of transport costs and the information technology revolution, whose advances...
Written by Sherry M. Stephenson