An assignment on

Business Environment

Submitted to: Prof. Amit Shukla

Name: Nagesh Desai
Roll No: 16052851039

V.M.PATEL COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Bachelor of Commerce

V.M.P.C.M.SPage 1
 World Trade Organization (WTO)

 HISTORY:-

The World Trade Organization (WTO) came into force on 1

January 1995 and is based in Geneva. More than 150 nations
are members. The WTO’s top decision making body is the
Ministerial Conference, which is normally held every two years.
In December, the Ministerial Conference is expected to accept
Russia as a new WTO member.
The World Trade Organization's predecessor, the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established
after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral
institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation
– notably the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World
Bankand the International Monetary Fund. A comparable
international institution for trade, named the International
Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was
to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address
not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to
trade, including employment, investment, restrictive
business practices, and commodity agreements. But the ITO
treaty was not approved by the U.S. and a few other
signatories and never went into effect.

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In the absence of an international organization for trade, the
GATT would over the years "transform itself" into a de
facto international organization.
 FUNCTION OF WTO:-

At the heart of the Organisation are the WTO agreements,

negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading
nations. The goal is to help producers of goods and services,
exporters, and importers conduct their business. The WTO’s
overriding objective is to help trade flow smoothly, frets,
fairly, and predictably.

With these objectives in mind, we can state the following

six specific functions:
i. It shall facilitate the implementation, administration and
operation of the WTO trade agreements, such as multilateral
trade agreements, plurilateral trade agreements.
ii. It shall provide forum for negotiations among its members
concerning their multilateral trade relations.
iii. It shall administer the ‘Understanding on Rules and
Procedures’ so as to handle trade disputes.
iv. It shall monitor national trade policies.
v. It shall provide technical assistance and training for
members of the developing countries.

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vi. It shall cooperate with various international
organisations like the IMF and the WB with the aim of
achieving greater coherence in global economic policy-
making.
The WTO was founded on certain guiding principles—non-
discrimination, free trade, open, fair and undistorted
competition, etc. In addition, it has special concern for
developing countries.
http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/world-trade-
organisation/the-world-trade-organisation-wto-structure-
functions-and-agreements/14215

Formation 1 January 1995; 24 years ago

Type International trade organization

Purpose Reduction of tariffs and other

barriers to trade

Headquarters Centre William

Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland
Membership 164 member states[1]

Official English, French, Spanish[2]

language

Director- Roberto Azevêdo

General

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 Budget 197.2 million Swiss francs(approx.
209 million US$) in 2018.[3]

Staff 640[4]

Website www.wto.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization

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 Tnternational Monetary fund (IMF):-

The IMF was originally laid out as a part of the Bretton

Woods system exchange agreement in 1944.[25] During
the Great Depression, countries sharply raised barriers to
trade in an attempt to improve their failing economies. This
led to the devaluation of national currencies and a decline
in world trade.
This breakdown in international monetary co-operation
created a need for oversight. The representatives of 45
governments met at the Bretton Woods Conference in the
Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire, in the United States, to discuss a framework
for postwar international economic co-operation and how
to rebuild Europe.
The IMF formally came into existence on 27 December
1945, when the first 29 countries ratified its Articles of
Agreement.[28] By the end of 1946 the IMF had grown to
39 members.[29] On 1 March 1947, the IMF began its
financial operations,[30] and on 8 May France became the
first country to borrow from it.
The IMF provided two major lending packages in the early
2000s to Argentina (during the 1998–2002 Argentine great
depression) and Uruguay (after the 2002 Uruguay banking
crisis).[31] However, by the mid-2000s, IMF lending was at
its lowest share of world GDP since the 1970s.

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  Functions:-

According to the IMF itself, it works to foster global growth

and economic stability by providing policy advice and
financing the members by working with developing
nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and
reduce poverty. The rationale for this is that private
international capital markets function imperfectly and
many countries have limited access to financial markets.
Such market imperfections, together with balance-of-
payments financing, provide the justification for official
financing, without which many countries could only correct
large external payment imbalances through measures with
adverse economic consequences. The IMF provides
alternate sources of financing.

In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and

loans under their policy of conditionality, which was
established in the 1950s. Low-income countries can
borrow on concessional terms, which means there is a
period of time with no interest rates, through the Extended
Credit Facility (ECF), the Standby Credit Facility (SCF)
and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). Nonconcessional
loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly
through Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), the Flexible Credit
Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL),

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and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides
emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument
(RFI) to members facing urgent balance-of-payments
needs.

Formation 27 December 1945; 73 years ago

Type International financial institution

Purpose Promote international monetary co-

operation, facilitate international
trade, foster sustainable economic
growth, make resources available
to members experiencing balance
of payments difficulties[1]

Headquarters Washington, D.C. U.S.

Location  Headquartered in Washington,

D.C.
Region Worldwide

Membership 189 countries

Official English[2]
language

Managing Christine Lagarde

Director (MD)

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 Main organ Board of Governors

Staff 2,400[1]

Website imf.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_F
und.

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 WORLD BANK

 History:-
The past 70 years have seen major changes in the world
economy. Over that time, the World Bank Group—the
world’s largest development institution—has worked to
help more than 100 developing countries and countries in
transition adjust to these changes by offering loans and
tailored knowledge and advice. The Bank Group works
with country governments, the private sector, civil society
organizations, regional development banks, think tanks,
and other international institutions on issues ranging from
climate change, conflict, and food security to education,
agriculture, finance, and trade. All of these efforts support
the Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by
2030 and boosting shared prosperity of the poorest 40
percent of the population in all countries.
Founded in 1944, the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development—soon called the World
Bank—has expanded to a closely associated group of five
development institutions. Originally, its loans helped
rebuild countries devastated by World War II. In time, the
focus shifted from reconstruction to development, with a
heavy emphasis on infrastructure such as dams, electrical

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grids, irrigation systems, and roads. With the founding of
the International Finance Corporation in 1956, the
institution became able to lend to private companies and
financial institutions in developing countries.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/leadership.

 Function:-
World Bank is playing main role of providing loans for
development works to member countries, especially to
underdeveloped countries. The World Bank provides long-term
loans for various development projects of 5 to 20 years
duration.

The main functions can be explained with the help of the

following points:
1. World Bank provides various technical services to the
member countries. For this purpose, the Bank has established
“The Economic Development Institute” and a Staff College in
Washington.

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2. Bank can grant loans to a member country up to 20% of its
share in the paid-up capital.

3. The quantities of loans, interest rate and terms and

conditions are determined by the Bank itself.

4. Generally, Bank grants loans for a particular project duly

submitted to the Bank by the member country.

5. Bank also provides loan to private investors belonging to

member countries on its own guarantee, but for this
loan private investors have to seek prior permission from those
counties where this amount will be collected.

: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/economics/world-bank-its-
objectives-and-functions/23534

Motto Working for a

World Free of
Poverty

Formation July 1945;

73 years ago

Type Monetary
International
Financial

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 Organization

Legal status Treaty

Headquarters Washington,
D.C., U.S.

Membership 189 countries

(IBRD)[1]
173 countries
(IDA)

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United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD)

 HISTORY:-
The United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a
permanent intergovernmental body.
The creation of UNCTAD in 1964 was based on concerns
of developing countries over the international market,
multi-national corporations, and great disparity between
developed nations and developing nations. The United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development was
established to provide a forum where the developing
countries could discuss the problems relating to their
economic development. The organisation grew from the
view that existing institutions like GATT (now replaced by
the World Trade Organization, WTO), the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank were not properly
organized to handle the particular problems of developing
countries. Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, UNCTAD was
closely associated with the idea of a New International
Economic Order (NIEO).
The first UNCTAD conference took place in Geneva in
1964, the second in New Delhi in 1968, the third

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in Santiago in 1972, fourth in Nairobi in 1976, the fifth
in Manila in 1979, the sixth in Belgrade in 1983, the
seventh in Geneva in 1987, the eighth in Cartagena in
1992, the ninth at Johannesburg (South Africa) in 1996,
the tenth in Bangkok (Thailand) in 2000, the eleventh
in São Paulo (Brazil) in 2004, the twelfth in Accra in 2008,
the thirteenth in Doha (Qatar) in 2012 and the fourteenth
in Nairobi (Kenya) in 2016.

Abbreviation UNCTAD

Formation 1964

Headquarters Geneva,
Switzerland
head-dr. mukyisa
kituyi

Website unctad.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Conference_on_
Trade_and_Development

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United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP):-

 History:-
The Commission was first established by the Economic
and Social Council on 28 March 1947 as the United
Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far
East (ECAFE) to assist in post-war economic
reconstruction. Its main mandate was to "initiate and
participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for
the economic reconstruction and development of Asia and
the Far East."
On 1 August 1974, the Commission was renamed to
the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP) by the Economic and Social Council to
reflect both the economic and social aspects of the
Commission's work, as well as geographic location of its
members.

 Function:-
The Commission works to address some of the greatest
challenges facing the region through results oriented
projects, technical assistance and capacity building to
Member States in the following areas:[4]

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 Macroeconomic policy and development
 Trade and investment
 Transport
 Social development
 Environment and sustainable development
 Information and communications technology and
disaster risk reduction
 Statistics
 Sub-regional activities for development
 Energy

Abbreviation ESCAP

Formation 28 March 1947;

71 years ago

Type Primary Organ –

Regional Branch

Legal status Active

Headquarters Bangkok,
Thailand

Website www.unescap.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Economic_and_
Social_Commission_for_Asia_and_the_Pacific

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South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC):-

 History:-
The idea of co-operation in South Asia was discussed in at
least three conferences: the Asian Relations
Conference held in New Delhion April 1947; the Baguio
Conference in the Philippines on May 1950; and
the Colombo Powers Conference held in Sri Lanka in April
1954.
In the ending years of the 1970s, the seven inner South
Asian nations that
included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Paki
stan, and Sri Lanka agreed upon the creation of a trade
bloc and to provide a platform for the people of South Asia
to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust, and
understanding. President Ziaur Rahman later addressed
official letters to the leaders of the countries of the South
Asia, presenting his vision for the future of the region and
the compelling arguments for region.[8] During his visit to
India in December 1977, Rahman discussed the issue of
regional cooperation with the Indian Prime
Minister, Morarji Desai. In the inaugural speech to the
Colombo Plan Consultative Committee which met in

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Kathmandu also in 1977, King Birendra of Nepal gave a
call for close regional cooperation among South Asian
countries in sharing river waters.
In 1983, the international conference held in Dhaka by its
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministers of
the inner seven countries adopted the Declaration on
South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
and formally launched the Integrated Programme of Action
(IPA) initially in five agreed areas of cooperation namely,
Agriculture; Rural Development; Telecommunications;
Meteorology; and Health and Population Activities.

Official languages English

Member states 8 members

9 observers

Establishment 8 December 1985

Population

• 2015 estimate 1,713,870,000

GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate

• Total US$11.64 trillion[3] (3rd)

GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate

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• Total US$ 3.31 trillion[3] (5th)

Currency 8 currencies[show]

Website
www.saarc-sec.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association
_for_Regional_Cooperation

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