Examine the perspective that membership of the World Trade Essay

Examine the perspective that membership of the World Trade Organisation is beneficial for developing countries - Essay Example About two thirds of WTO’s around 150 members are developing countries (Rena 2012, p.77). Doha Round was launched mainly to address the needs and interests of Third World countries. The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) significantly contribute to the growth of the global economy because trade is an important tool for their development strategies. There is need to determine whether WTO membership benefits the developing countries or it just undermines the development in these countries. This paper explores whether the universal rules and regulations governing trade established by the WTO on the basis of free trade principles assist the developing countries. Indeed, WTO membership has enabled many developing countries involved to improve trade and develop. Some of the benefits of WTO membership that this paper will discuss include peacekeeping, economic growth, and increase in income. Notably, the WTO started operating in 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement as a replacement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that was developed in 1948 after the Second World War (Rena 2012, p.78). GATT was based on a series of trade negotiations with different themes known as rounds that aimed at reducing tariffs, non-tariff barriers (NTB) like quotas, embargoes and dumpling which were flooding foreign markets with commodities that cannot be sold domestically. Currently, the Doha Round launched in 2001 has been a long process with little progress because of differences of interests and perspectives between the developed and developing countries. This trade negotiation was developed to ensure that there is equitable participation of the developing countries (Dalal 2012, p.44). The WTO is focused on completing negotiations on the Doha Round to assist in addressing the concerns and interests of the Third World countries. For instance, the Doha Ministerial Declaration adopted in the same year stated that member countries commit