_The Creative Wealth of Nations_ Exploitation is common in domestic and international labor relations, and it is not limited to the performing arts. Furthermore, the system is dire for overseas workers who are likely to face higher proportions of exploitation. These issues are age-old. Therefore,

- the WBG could augment the support for capacity building initiatives to help curb inequities in labor migration. It is difficult to sidestep such issues in reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. But political fluctuations in the world’s governments make action nearly impossible — in fact, these regimes could throttle any attempts to streamline ideas like the GATS visa system considered in _Global Economic Prospect 2004_ or the provisional Artists Visa discussed in Part I. Decision-making, moreover, ought to be informed by multidisciplinary policy consensus.

Accordingly, working under the cross-cutting themes of global concern, the WBG could strengthen its links with the International Labor Organization (ILO), the WTO, and the wider international community, to highlight this concern as it aspires to meet its twin goals. Again, specific policy interventions here are unclear. But capacity building could start with increasing rigorous research and support to set up such schemes as the Overseas Employment Agencies (like the one in the Philippines) where negotiations, information and assistance for overseas workers can be administered. This provision could be attractive for select countries where trade in services — including the movement of performing artists (under Mode IV of the GATS) — provides a clear comparative advantage. The private sector could also be engaged.

The _Global Economic Prospects 2004_ notes that of the six proposals tabled for Mode IV of the GATS, only two where submitted by developing countries — these were Colombia and India.* The rest were from Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United States. The reason for this may include the fact that some developing countries tend to pursue bilateral trade agreements over multilateral agreements.<sup>246</sup> Nonetheless, “this also may reflect the difficulties many developing countries have faced in identifying their export interests in services trade, an area of high demand in trade-related capacity building.”<sup>247</sup> The last point provides ample reason why capacity building is crucial. It could be the concrete policy instrument for the WBG in the murky terrain of temporary labor movement — movement that could carry performing artists (from developing countries to the global stage) in seasonal employment arrangements.

This arrangement, however, is not only about being good musicians providing unique music; it also reminds us that neighbors, geopolitics and regional economic activities matter. To illustrate this let us turn to Paul Collier’s hypothesis that neighbors matter. Comparing Uganda and Switzerland, he looks beyond the landlockedness issue: Maybe landlocked countries depended upon their neighbors not just as transport corridors to overseas markets but also directly as markets. Maybe Germany and Italy were not in the way of Switzerland’s market, they were Switzerland’s market. Switzerland was not cut off from its market, it was surrounded by it. Well, why not Uganda? All landlocked countries are by definition surrounded by neighbors. Unfortunately, some neighbors are better as markets than others. Switzerland has Germany,

> * In the past decade, things may have changed. But even if more developing countries have joined this process, progress here is slow.

> 246 “Labor Mobility and the WTO: Liberalizing Temporary Movement,” in _Global Economic Prospects 2004: Realizing the Development Promise of Doha_ (The World Bank, 2003), accessed June 24, 2014, ~ <u>http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/0,contentMDK:23102104 pag ePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:476883,00.html.</u> 247 Ibid.

<mark>65</mark>