Global trade: Switzerland and over 120 countries want to facilitate investment

Switzerland has joined more than 120 countries at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Abu Dhabi in favour of a plurilateral agreement to facilitate investment in developing countries. The representatives of the countries, including the head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Helene Budliger Artieda, voted in favour of the agreement on Sunday, the WTO said. The agreement after six years of discussions came as no surprise, as a number of outstanding issues still had to be resolved in recent months. The agreement should remove bureaucratic hurdles for investments in developing countries. It will boost the economy and lead to more jobs, said the Director-General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The agreement would be the first of its kind on the international stage. According to estimates, the increase in investment associated with the reduction in red tape could generate social benefits of over CHF1 trillion ($1.13 trillion) a year and up to almost 1.5% ...