The Contribution of International Trade to the Circular Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean

CEPAL

Publication

The Mekong Sub-region Dynamic Cooperation for Prosperity Security and Sustainability

The book aims at providing an overall picture of current situation of non-traditional challenges and the various cooperation mechanisms in the Mekong sub-region, analyzing the dynamics of these mechanisms, especially those led by major powers and map out directions for sustainable development and cooperation in the sub-region.

Testigo acusa al Presidente

Noticias semanales de Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador

Contenido disponible sólo en alemán

Enhancing the quality of agricultural products by setting up Short Food Supply Chain under the EVFTA

The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has now come into force which shall bring up tremendous opportunities to promote the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to EU’s market. Accordingly, 71 percent of EU imports from Vietnam will be tariff-free from the moment the EVFTA takes effect, rising to over 99 percent across the next seven years. The reduction of import tariffs supports the expansion of the export market of Vietnam agricultural products such as rice, sugar, honey, vegetables and seafood, creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese agricultural products to access to the market of 27 EU member countries. However, Vietnamese enterprises and cooperatives will face many challenges related to requirements on food safety, animal and plant quarantine measures, Rules of Origin, Geographical Indication Protection, etc. Enhancing the quality of agricultural products through and by an effective food supply channel/chain is expected to support Vietnamese agricultural products to meet requirements stated in the EVFTA in relation to the food safety traceability. Sustainable short food supply chains are defined as food systems with direct producer-consumer relations including different types of direct sales such as farm outlets, farmer’s markets, local food shops or spatially extended for exporting. SFSCs are often perceived as a way to implement a more sustainable food system that provides healthier and better quality food with reasonable prices, more value added to the food producers and environmental protection. SFSCs can also be seen as means to restructure food chains in order to support sustainable farming methods and generate resilient farm based livelihoods. Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC) is characterized by few intermediaries between producer and consumer; sometimes producers distribute products directly to consumers. The short food supply chain aims to provide consumers with products that reflect characteristics such as: local identity, nature, healthiness and trust worthiness (Luane et al., 2018) Policies and/or regulations to encourage the development of sustainable short food supply chains is so far still absent to a large degree in Vietnam. Also, the direct linkage among farmers and agricultural enterprises/cooperatives remains weak with lots of intermediaries in between that lead to the missing of requirements for food safety and traceability. A growing body of literature on food supply chains show that the influence of the free trade agreement (FTAs) from the past have a strong impact on the development of SFSC. This is especially relevant for the post-socialist countries and EU member’s states. Several studies on SFSCs have been implemented in the European Union such as Poland, France and Germany, etc.

EU Policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics and Policy Recommendations for Vietnam

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform the economy and impact almost every aspect of human life over the next few decades. This provides a boost to the growing investments in AI research and development (R&D), as well as the rapid adoption of AI among the public, enterprises, organizations and governments worldwide. By 2030, AI could contribute up to $13 trillion to the global economy, a figure roughly equal to the current annual economic output of China, the world's second-largest economy. Moreover, as AI applications are expanding into many fields, early adopters will benefit in reaping economic benefits and have appropriate strategies in developing this field. The combination of large economic dividends, and social and military benefits, has spurred states to join in a race in this area to rapidly and effectively adapt AI in as many areas as possible. It can be seen that AI is the inevitable trend, having been and will continue to thrive, dominate in many areas and affect every aspect of human life. In the process of developing that besides the benefits it gives people also raises many ethical issues related to development, applications. Being a main player in the field of AI, EU also face problems arising from it and take preparation steps to be ready in AI times.

Smart Village: Solutions for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in EU, Lesson Learnt for Vietnam

One of the solutions towards achieving the higher commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals is to find appropriate ways to address economic inequalities, climate change, accessibility access to modern technologies and other necessary infrastructure. While the concept of smart city has been studied well such as "Smart City", the concept of "Smart Village" is still a matter of debate among scholars, researchers and policy makers. In fact, in recent years, the rural areas of the EU are facing increasing difficulties and challenges, which are the increasing decline of the rural population, the ongoing trend of population aging. In addition, income disparities are widening between rural and urban residents (GDP per capita in rural areas is 66% in EU-28 compared with 118% in urban areas). The proportion of people living in rural areas at risk of poverty and lack of social cohesion is higher in cities with 22.4% of the population compared with 21.3% in urban areas. Besides, in many remote rural areas, it is difficult for them to access public services, etc. With an objective to implement initiatives based on the global trend of building smarter and more sustainable communities, the European Union has launched an action program called “Smart Villages” in 2017. Accordingly, Smart Villages are understood as communities in rural areas that use innovative solutions to demonstrate resilience by exploiting local strengths and opportunities. Rural communities will rely on a participatory approach to implement development strategies to improve economic, social and environmental conditions on the basis of applying technology platforms and solutions. Models aimed at ensuring rural areas will continue to play an essential role in creating a stronger, resilient community, leading to more prosperous development.

Municipal Elections 2022 | Pre-Election Survey

The Municipal Elections are expected to take place on the 22nd of March 2022. In light of the current conditions, which play a role in the performance of municipalities as well as their corresponding elections, NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions conducted a nationally representative survey, in collaboration with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Jordan Office, exploring Jordanians’ opinions with regard to political participation in the upcoming elections in Jordan.

Essay and Art Contest on Corruption

The inaugural Essay and Art Competition whose outstanding submissions form the basis of this publication intended to explore the level of understanding of corruption among Kenyan children, while granting them an opportunity to suggest possible ways to combating it from family, community and ultimately national level. Five thematic areas namely, education, economy, environment, health and security were identified as the main areas of focus for this nationwide contest. The competition attracted approximately two thousand pupils and students aged between 10 and 18 years from all parts of the country including children from the marginalised communities and children living with disabilities.

Parteiverbände - was wir wissen, berechnen und nicht wissen

Brasilien im Fokus 02/2022

Der neue Artikel der Reihe Brasil em Foco bringt eine Analyse des Politikwissenschaftlers Humberto Dantas über die Parteiverbände, gültig ab den Wahlen 2022.

Digital Technologies and the Environment: A Synergy for the Future

In this new report, Pavlina Ittelson, Senior Program Officer at Diplo US in Washington, D.C., discusses the impact of current digital technologies on the environment. It also highlights negative outcomes on the one hand, and digital technologies’ significant potential in addressing climate change on the other.