Download or read book Bilateralism and Development written by Veniana Qalo and published by Cameron May, Limited. This book was released on 2008 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing together a number of thought-provoking papers, Bilateralism and Development: Emerging Trade Patterns sets the framework for informed analysis of the spate of bilateral agreements that are currently being concluded in the context of stalled multilateral talks. It allows the reader to get a valuable perspective on the evolving trends of bilateral agreements - pre and post-establishment of the World Trade Organisation. Beginning with the premise that bilateralism is not a new phenomenon in the trade sphere, the analyses demonstrate that concurrent agreements outside the direct scope of the WTO can have both positive effects in terms of protecting developed domestic industries and distortive effects on the multilateral trading system, particularly with regards to developing countries' trade opportunities. Bilateralism and Development: Emerging Trade Patterns addresses the fundamental issue of compatibility of such agreements with the WTO, draws parallels and contrasts these new concords which are now taking precedence over the traditional commodity specific agreements between trading partners.