Multilateralism Versus Regionalism

Ethiopia has embarked up on a process of integration in to the global economy both through the multilateral and regional tracks simultaneously without setting any clear priority. Although its major developmental and poverty reduction policies and strategies underlined the importance attached to foreign trade and the commensurate necessity of integrating the domestic economy with the global economy, neither of them set priority between the multilateral and regional tracks for the attainment of the country's twin development objectives of economic growth and poverty alleviation. The absence of an identified priority has led the country to participate in a spaghetti bowl of trade negotiations. Given the country's limited human, financial and institutional capacity and the complex nature of trade negotiations, engaging in more than one negotiation at the same time would overstretch the limited resources and drastically affect the possible outcomes. This book,tries to answer the basic questions, how best Ethiopia should prioritize and sequence its multilateral and regional trade integration endeavors and hence will be useful for all persons interested in Ethiopia's foreign trade.