Strikingly, the past five years have also been a period of unprecedented privatization and market liberalization, and while action is stalled on environmental and social problems, the corporate agenda has progressed by leaps and bounds. Perhaps to compensate, it attempts to create an image of concern about the disadvantaged situation of people in developing countries. It requires no rocket scientist to see that these professed kindnesses for people in developing countries are nothing less than opportunities for companies to move in and take over local companies and markets. The report notes that the World Bank has predicted that developing economies will grow by 6 percent over the next decade. Huge amounts of capital will be needed to make such growth possible.
Society can move rapidly towards sustainable development, as soon as it decides it really wants to.
The WTO must play a leading role by working with other agencies, member countries and interested stakeholders. Instead, the NGOs could be seen to hold a wide range of views on trade and sustainable development issues.