\n
On\u00a0November 23, 2016<\/strong><\/b>, the seminar\u00a0“Shifting Trade Patterns in the New Development Landscape: BRICS and other emerging economies in the East African Community\u201d<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0was held at the\u00a0BRICS Policy Center<\/strong><\/b>, being the result of research by\u00a0Maria Nagawa<\/strong><\/b>, researcher of the\u00a0Center.<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0The event also included the participation of\u00a0Ana Garcia, professor at UFRRJ\u00a0as a debater.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Nagawa opened the seminar elaborating how\u00a0South-South cooperation is a forum through which countries in the global south can learn development lessons from each other.<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0As an example, she discussed how the city of Rio de Janeiro had remarkably improved access to primary health care over the past ten years and how her home country of Uganda could use Rio\u2019s experience to address the crisis in its own health sector. In trade specifically,\u00a0she discussed how cooperation among countries in the south could facilitate the negotiation of better terms in trade agreements.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n In relation to the BRICS, Maria emphasized that it is\u00a0important not to look only at economic growth, but at the GDP\u00a0per capita<\/em>\u00a0of each one.<\/strong><\/b>Although India has a high rate of economic growth for example, it also has the lowest GDP per capita among the\u00a0BRICS<\/strong><\/b>, or in other words,\u00a0the growth of the country does not reflect a fair improvement of quality of life for the population.<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0She questioned whether the\u00a0BRICS<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0as an economic bloc could continue to be regarded as a viable alternative to the existing international order if their domestic political and economic situations were unstable.<\/p>\n In reference to the\u00a0East African Community<\/strong><\/b>, which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda (and most recently South Sudan), Nagawa argued that\u00a0the most integrated region in Africa needed to diversify its economic partnerships.<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0She pointed out that thinking outside the box is essential.<\/p>\n As an example, Nagawa used the importance given to the commercial relationships with China which, despite being the region\u2019s biggest import partner, was still relatively closed to EAC exports and that emerging economies as a whole had not altered the structure of trade. EAC countries continue to export primary products and import expensive manufactured goods. This indicates that the process of industrialization in these countries is proceeding slowly, pointing to the difficulty they face in diversifying their exports. She added that although FDIs into the region from emerging economies like China were growing, they were still only a fraction of FDIs from more traditional partners such as the E.U. and South Africa. She further mentioned that countries such as Japan and Malaysia presented interesting opportunities for FDI and export markets for products with some value addition.<\/p>\n The main discussant,\u00a0Ana Garcia, also underscored the unequal trade competition of the BRICS in the region and questioned the best way forward for the EAC.<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0Nagawa responded by calling for more trade protectionism, which may help the EAC countries boost local industry and become more internationally competitive.<\/p>\n \n Maria Nagawa will remain a researcher at the BPC until\u00a0February 2017.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On\u00a0November 23, 2016, the seminar\u00a0“Shifting Trade Patterns in the New Development Landscape: BRICS and other emerging economies in the East African Community\u201d\u00a0was held at the\u00a0BRICS Policy Center, being the result…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n