IMF: The World Needs Global Economic Integration

Michael Olugbode in Beijing

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that more than ever before the world needs global economic integration to especially ward off the threats on global economy in the last two years as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

The Managing Director of IMF, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva in her remark to the China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the weekend lamented that for over two and a half years the world has faced challenges in the global supply chain due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis, insisting that the world has witnessed economic downturn.

She said due to the crises, “We have witnessed acute food insecurities, inflation. Poverty in many places is on the rise, around the world. We have seen

even big economies become relatively poorer.”

On her part, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that China contributes 15 per cent of world’s total exports and she is the second largest importer of goods and services, while the third largest service exporter.

Okonjo-Iweala in her goodwill message to the Expo, said: “Trade must be part of the solution to solve inflation, climate change,

global economic slow, etc.”

She disclosed that reforming and revitalization of WTO is about equipping it to be able to find challenges to problems and be able to drive the solutions.

Okonjo-Iweala claimed that the future of trade is in digital solutions and services, going green and green services, and in inclusivity.

In his opening speech, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping said the CIIE has become a showcase of China’s new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole world.

He said: “Openness is a key driving force behind the progress of human civilizations and an intrinsic path toward global prosperity and development. The world today is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century as well as a sluggish economic recovery. We should commit ourselves to openness to meet development challenges, foster synergy for cooperation, build the momentum of innovation, and deliver benefits to all. We should steadily advance economic globalization, enhance every country’s dynamism of growth, and provide all nations with greater and fairer access to the fruits of development.”