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Since the second half of the 20th century, globalization -- supported by multilateral frameworks and institutions -- has facilitated economic growth and reduced poverty through increased trade and capital flows, and the exchange of technologies. Open and liberal policy frameworks across national frontiers have underpinned these benefits. Yet, while globalization has come with enormous gains, it has also created challenges for individual economies and transboundary risks. The system allowed ‘the few’ to appropriate most of these gains to increase their own wealth, and has worked against the shared prosperity of ‘the many’.


Globalization was supported by the creation of multilateral institutions1 to coordinate actions and policies across a wide group of countries. Multilateralism arose from the understanding that globalization needed to be given a context of agreed rules to ensure its outcomes would be beneficial to all, and that it operated in an efficient and predictable manner.

Yet, multilateral rules and institutions have been undermined by a lack of global collective political leadership which has resulted in a failure to empower the principal multilateral bodies and made it difficult to hold them accountable. Multilateral organizations have been held hostage by inflexible process orientation and difficulties in reaching political consensus on key policy priorities in support of globalization. These challenges have stalled progress towards making global governance and regulation more effective. The consequent international regulatory deficit has provided vested interests with an opportunity to consolidate their advantage, magnifying in-country inequalities and excluding large segments of the population from benefiting from the gains of economic growth and development. Disruptions caused by frequent global, regional and national financial and economic crises triggered waves of public discontent across continents and undermined the prospects of globalization and multilateralism.

Contact
Trade, Investment and Innovation Division +66 2 288-1234 [email protected]