Podcasts about ftas

On Episode 803 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Priyanka Kishore, Director and Principal Economist at Asia Decoded as well as Rahul JainDirector/VP – Research at Dolat Capital.SHOW NOTES(00:00) Stories of the Day(00:50) India brings on stage the world's biggest technology companies and disruptors with rivalry on full display(04:48) Fears of Imminent Attack by the US on Iran Bring Down Markets(06:00) Status Check on IT Stocks(11:46) Guess which city in India has the largest homes?(13:44) Why the recently signed FTAs by India are just the beginning of much hard work ahead(25:05) More countries are gearing to ban social media for teens, this could affect business models too(29:11) FeedbackRegister for India Finance and Innovation Forum 2026https://tinyurl.com/IFIFCOREFor more of our coverage check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecore.in⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠

As I watch Chris Hipkins, presumably gleefully, mess about with the India Free Trade deal, I'm reminded this is not the Labour Party that did the FTA with China. Hipkins is no Helen Clark and in that is a great sadness. For all those who occasionally contact me and ask of the possibility of a so-called “grand coalition” —a relationship between the Labour and National parties— before you ask, next time look at the way Hipkins plays these games and there is your answer. Even in areas of broad agreement, they still can't act like grownups. It's also a lesson in name vs substance. The Labour Party of the past few years is nothing like Labour of the late 90's and early 2000's. That was a centrist version. Yes, they still handed out free money to people like students to bribe them in election year. But the rest of the time they actually ran the economy in growth. Compared to Barbara Edmonds, Michael Cullen was a conservative. In the early parts of 1984 Labour, with David Lange, was similar, and here is your irony that Hipkins fails to recognise: when Labour are, broadly speaking, middle of the road they are actually popular. Ask Bob Hawke or Paul Keating or Tony Blair – centrist Labour is successful Labour. By the time you take modern Labour with Hipkins and Sepuloni, and add the Greens in the mix, you are seeing the left wing “group think” that not only keeps them out of office, but leads to the sort of game playing we have with an FTA. Yes, the Government probably shouldn't have to rely on them and for all the games Labour plays, New Zealand First is just as bad with their xenophobic nonsense. But Labour once had a global view. It's not like the Chinese weren't thought of with great suspicion prior to 2008. But the bigger picture was at play. The realisation that large countries and their economies could be good for everyone was a driving force. What Labour would do well to do is put this country first. Not score points, not look like children, and not pretend they actually had anything to do with negotiating this thing at all. FTAs are big picture, not a three-year electoral cycle game. I don't think I'm alone in wishing there were more adults in the room. Labour 1999-2008 put the current lot to shame. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Renee Chiuchiarelli & Julie Parks Episode Summary In this episode of Simply Trade Tips, Renee and Julie dive deeper into the intersection of trade and technology, focusing on how automation is reshaping import and export filing. From data ingestion and rules-based validation to AI-powered audit trails and workflow automation, they unpack where technology adds value—and where human judgment is still essential. This conversation makes one thing clear: automation isn't about replacing trade professionals—it's about eliminating rework, improving accuracy, and exposing bad data faster. Renee and Julie also explore how governments are leveraging AI and machine learning at scale, raising the stakes for importers and exporters to modernize their compliance processes. Key Topics Covered Why most filing errors come from disconnected systems, not bad intent Where automation shows up in customs declarations: Data ingestion from ERP, supplier, and logistics systems Rules-based validation (HS, origin, value checks) AI-driven document digitization and data extraction Different automation models in trade: Customs filing platforms Global Trade Management (GTM) systems Broker-provided technology and hybrid outsource models APIs vs. EDI and the evolution of data exchange The role of AI and machine learning in: Pattern recognition Risk detection Audit readiness and version control How governments are using advanced technology to: Screen transactions in real time Apply compliance more consistently across ports Why automation accelerates good decisions—but exposes bad master data even faster Key Takeaways Automation improves consistency and speed, but does not replace regulatory judgment Clean master data remains critical—technology can't fix broken inputs Leveraging broker technology can be a smart option for companies with limited budgets Importers and exporters must modernize to keep pace with government enforcement tools AI should be viewed as a strategic ally, not a threat, in trade compliance This Week's FIO (Figure It Out) Pick one area of your trade process—classification, filing, auditing, FTAs, or document management—and kick the tires on automation. Request a demo Explore how AI could reduce rework Evaluate whether broker, GTM, or hybrid models make sense for your organization The goal isn't perfection—it's understanding what's possible. Join the Conversation Head over to the Trade Geeks Community and tell us: What area of automation are you exploring? What surprised you most about today's discussion? Credits Hosts: Renee Chiuchiarelli Julie Parks Producer: Lalo Solorzano  Subscribe & Follow New Simply Trade Tips episodes drop every Tuesday. Presented by: Global Training Center — education, consulting, workshops & compliance resources for trade professionals. Connect With Us Simply Trade Podcast on LinkedIn Global Training Center on LinkedIn YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts Trade Geeks Community

Kumar frames the India–EU FTA as a deal India needed, not one it merely chose, arguing that with the multilateral trade system weakened, FTAs have become the practical route to secure market access and signal openness to investment. He places the EU among India's “$100 billion club” trading partners and explains why this agreement fills a gap India cannot realistically close with China, and cannot replicate with the United States in the form of a full FTA.On timing, he calls the early 2010s a missed opportunity but notes that current geopolitical conditions have raised India's value for Europe, including Europe's push to de-risk from China and the absence of an EU–U.S. FTA. A major thread is regulation: Kumar acknowledges the EU's regulatory intensity, but argues India must adapt to global technical and sanitary standards, using the agreement's timelines and technical assistance to reduce friction and help industry upgrade over time.He clarifies the trade-offs that made the deal viable: core agriculture and dairy are left out due to political sensitivities on both sides; government procurement is excluded due to India's constraints and federal realities; and investment protection and geographical indications are kept on separate tracks to avoid a more complex EU-wide ratification path. He also describes how negotiations manage domestic sensitivities through consultation with industry, transition periods, tariff-rate quotas, and product thresholds, particularly in sectors like autos, aiming to expose firms gradually to competition while pushing manufacturing to become more competitive.In closing, Kumar argues the hard work starts after signing. He stresses that Indian industry must actually use the agreement's tariff concessions, pointing to historically low utilization of FTAs—and that domestic reforms cannot be postponed if India wants the deal to deliver results. He highlights reforms in agriculture, labor implementation, power, and land acquisition, and ties this to a broader shift he sees globally: trade policy and security policy are increasingly moving into alignment, especially in a world of dual-use technology and tighter strategic partnerships.Episode ContributorsDinakar Peri is a fellow in the Security Studies program at Carnegie India.Ambassador Mohan Kumar has an outstanding career in the Indian Foreign Service lasting 36 years which culminated in his being India's Ambassador to France based in Paris. Under his watch, the Indo-French strategic partnership was strengthened and consolidated further in spheres such as defense, space, nuclear & solar energy, smart cities and investment. Earlier, Mohan Kumar was India's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain where he witnessed and dealt with a strategically complex region characterized by events such as the “Arab Spring”. Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

Host: Annik Sobing Guests: Elisabeth Sherrell, Alicia Bryant, Kelsey Moraski Published: February 2026 Length: ~30 minutes Presented by: Global Training Center Partnership with ICPA  ICPA Compliance Corazón: Community, Careers, and a Fiesta of Global Trade In this special Simply Trade Roundup, Annik sits down with ICPA's new executive director, Elisabeth Sherrell, and board members Alicia Bryant and Kelsey Moraski to talk about what makes ICPA such a unique home for trade compliance professionals—and what to expect at the 2026 ICPA Annual Conference, “Compliance Corazón: Fiesta of Global Trade,” in San Antonio. From career-defining connections to real-world problem solving over breakfast, this episode shines a light on the people, purpose, and heart behind ICPA.​ What You'll Learn in This Episode Who's who at ICPA now Meet new executive director Elisabeth Sherrell and board members Alicia Bryant (Edgewell Personal Care) and Kelsey Moraski (global trade, supply chain, and risk). Why each of them joined the ICPA board and how they see the mission evolving.​ Why ICPA matters for your career How attending ICPA conferences helped Alicia earn her customs broker license and expand her role into broker auditing, FTAs, and classification. Why Kelsey calls ICPA one of the few places where people truly understand the real risk and gray areas compliance professionals live in every day.​ Inside the 2026 ICPA Annual Conference – San Antonio Dates: March 1–4, 2026 at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio on the River Walk. Theme: “Compliance Corazón – Fiesta of Global Trade” with a strong focus on community, culture, and practical problem solving. Content highlights: deep dives on Canada (including CARM and current China‑related developments), regional customs updates (e.g., Latin America sessions led by experts like Brenda Cordova), technology and AI in trade compliance, and navigating today's “most exciting and challenging” era for trade.​ Registration is still open, but the hotel is smaller and spots are filling fast, with many attendees registering in the last 45 days. Virtual attendance remains an option for those who cannot travel.​ Culture, community, and the “Voices of Compliance” How ICPA grew from an idea shared by Elisabeth's mom and co‑founder Linda into a global community where people show up for each other—professionally and personally. Plans to honor Elisabeth's mother in San Antonio with a memorial moment and a new Voices of Compliance performance: a rewritten “Deep in the Heart of Texas” celebrating tariffs and trade (yes, with audience clapping).​ Stories of members supporting each other through life events and why “compliance with heart” isn't just a tagline.​ Problem solving in person Why the real magic of ICPA happens in the hallways and at breakfast tables: people bring real problems, not just citations, and work through them together. Kelsey's Alex Honnold analogy: compliance pros as the climbers who truly understand the risk, and ICPA as the rare room where everyone “speaks the same language.”​ Building the next generation of trade professionals How ICPA is actively bringing students and early‑career professionals into the fold, including full conference scholarships (like for student Jake Boggs, who left with multiple job offers). Elisabeth's 20‑year vision: seeing “trade compliance professional” standing alongside firefighter and nurse on career day—and why she wants to introduce more young people to this path.​ Hot topics Alicia and Kelsey are watching at ICPA Technology and AI: why you can't just “slap tech” on broken processes—garbage in, garbage out—and how companies are really rolling out tools in compliance. Volatility and gray areas: how different companies are interpreting risk, handling USMCA changes, and navigating fast‑moving geopolitical shifts, especially in Canada and beyond.​ ICPA Conference Details 2026 ICPA Annual Conference – Compliance Corazón: Fiesta of Global Trade Dates: March 1–4, 2026 Location: Grand Hyatt San Antonio, River Walk Format: In‑person with virtual option Focus: Practical sessions, regional experts, technology, risk, and a strong emphasis on networking, mentorship, and community.​ ICPA Europe Conference Location: Dresden Germany, April 8-10, Hilton ​ Credits Host: Annik Sobing Guests: Elisabeth Sherrell, Alicia Bryant, Kelsey Moraski Producer: Lalo Solorzano Subscribe & Follow New Roundup episodes every week. Presented by: Global Training Center — providing education, consulting, workshops, and compliance resources for trade professionals.

Those opposing our FTA with India have got be guilty of economic treason, don't they? We're a small trading nation with lots of food, and world markets who need our red meat and our milk. The closer the country, the better. The higher-value-add, the better. And the sugar on top is tariff-free access, so our competitive advantaged producing the world best dairy and sheep and beef, and Kiwifruit, can all me admired and loved by the word at a reasonable price. When Helen Clark and Phil Goff signed the deal in Beijing back in 2007, two-way trade was $8. It's now $41-billion. It's now our largest trading partner. We are on the cusp of another bonanza just like with a country much bigger and meddle class about the crack on. It's to come the third largest economy in the world. However, some kiwi politicians believe this is somehow a bad thing. That selling our best produces to other countries at cheaper prices, unencumbered another' tax regime, how is that not a good idea? Why because we may have take an 1700 Indians on working visas coming here? So what. They work hard, they hussle. They don't piss around fishing at the beach or sitting on the couch when they should be working. Migrants do the jobs iwi's feel they're too posh to do in society. It's hard work. Honest work. And it needs to be done. Why not let people who want to work, work. And you don't, you don't get anything. Fish till your hearts content. But this country should be filled with ambitious people who want to make the most of it. That's what FTAs do and I can't understand people don't it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand is going to sign this free trade deal with India. The massive boost we got and still enjoy from Phil Goff's signing of the China FTA is still very much fresh in mind. Hipkins sounds pretty upbeat about it, with a few questions to be asked, but he says caucus will look at it and make a decision. Of course, it'll need support across the aisle because NZ First isn't keen. The Europeans have just done a massive deal with Delhi overnight. Ursula von der Leyen is in India, getting the red carpet treatment from Modhi. Combined they make up 25% of the world's GDP and the market size? Two billion people. They've been negotiating for years and years, but finally have a deal, in part because of a Trump's tariffs but also because India has managed to secure protections for dairy. They say Delhi "has prudently safeguarded sensitive sectors, including dairy…”. We generally treat trade as a bipartisan issue and there's little reason to think this deal will be any different - barring any major red flags with the details, many of which we the public don't know yet but that the Opposition's being consulted on. But if that checks out, it's probably going to be a rubber stamp. After all, we're like the world's FTA cheerleaders. We basically go round international meetings with a clipboard trying to sign people up. We now have 70% of our global trade covered by FTAs. It's reasonable to only expect that will increase. And perhaps easier once Trump leaves office, too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 27, 2026, India and the European Union are expected to announce “the mother of all trade deals” - a historic Free Trade Agreement covering 25% of the world's GDP. After decades of protectionism, India is pivoting fast, racing to sign deals with developed economies like the EU, UAE, and Australia while diversifying away from China. But why now? And where does this leave the US under Trump 2.0?In this episode, Anuj Gupta, Managing Director of BowerGroupAsia (India) and former Chief of Staff to India's Commerce Minister, takes us inside the room where these deals happen. We discuss:• The Big Shift: Why 2014 was the turning point for India's trade strategy and why they walked away from the RCEP trading bloc.• The Pivot: Why India is suddenly rushing to sign FTAs with the West after years of hesitation.• Geopolitics: How India balances Russian oil imports with EU trade ambitions and US strategic ties.• The Future: Is India trying to be a bridge between blocs, or becoming a “third pole” in the global economy?Whether you're a business leader, policy watcher, or just curious about where the world economy is heading, this episode breaks down why India's new playbook matters to you.Anuj Gupta leads the India practice at BowerGroupAsia. A seasoned policy strategist, he previously served as Chief of Staff to India's Minister for Commerce & Industry, where he helped shape key initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and India's recent wave of FTAs. He has also led public policy for the Tata Group. Follow Anuj on LinkedIn or on X, @anujg • Follow the podcast on X, @IndoPacPodcast, LinkedIn, or Facebook• Follow Ray Powell on X, @GordianKnotRay, or LinkedIn, or check out his maritime transparency work at SeaLight• Follow Jim Carouso on LinkedIn• Sponsored by BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Indo-Pacific

In this edition of Moneycontrol Editor's Picks find out what's happening from markets to government policy and more. Inside: India keeps bullion out of FTAs, rapid adoption of crypto SIPs, IIT Madras emerges preferred consultancy for deep tech investors, energy markets keep close watch on Venezuela, & semiconductor industry presents wishlist to government ahead of the Budget. Tune in!

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with trade policy expert Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), about the impact of steep US tariffs on India's exports and what the latest data reveals about the state of India–US trade negotiations. Drawing on sector-wise export trends, Srivastava explains the puzzling two-step trajectory in India's exports to the US—a sharp initial fall followed by a partial recovery even as tariffs climbed to 50%—and outlines why this resilience may be driven by temporary adjustments.He also examines whether India can realistically diversify away from the US market, why such shifts are slow and constrained by India's export basket, and how global competition—particularly from China—limits alternative options. The conversation also touches on India's recent spurt of free trade agreements, arguing that they reflect a revival of stalled negotiations rather than a fundamental shift in trade strategy. The discussion highlights why the India–US talks go far beyond a conventional trade agreement, touching on agriculture, domestic policy autonomy, and strategic concerns that India has consistently treated as red lines. Tune in for insights on what the trade data signals about India's negotiating space, the costs of prolonged uncertainty, and the limits of compromise in a high-stakes economic relationship.(00:00) Setting the India–US trade context(00:42) Sharp export decline and partial rebound(02:44) Why exports revived despite higher tariffs(03:06) How exporters are sharing tariff losses(05:33) Why the recovery may not last(06:44) Is export diversification really happening(09:27) Why tariffs won't speed negotiations(10:12) Trade deal versus strategic demands(12:34) Employment risks from prolonged tariffs(13:13) India's non-negotiable red lines(14:21) What India can realistically offer(15:57) Country-specific versus MFN concessions(16:45) Are India's FTAs a strategy shift(18:35) Why FTAs are being fast-tracked(19:16) Using data to read trade signalsFor more of our coverage check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecore.in⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube

Host: Cindy Allen Published: December 19 Length: ~15 minutes Presented by: Global Training Center In this year-end “Cindy's Version” of Simply Trade, Cindy Allen, CEO of TradeForce Multiplier, uses Taylor Swift's “The Manuscript” to frame a look back at 2025's trade story. She recaps the latest developments—from the Court of International Trade's surprise ruling on the Costco injunction and IEPA liquidation concerns to a new Switzerland–Liechtenstein trade deal and CBP's long‑awaited “stacking” spreadsheet. Cindy also highlights the U.S. government's announcement that it collected 200 billion dollars in new tariffs this year, and what that really means for importers' bottom lines. Using “The Manuscript” as a metaphor, Cindy walks through the big chapters of this year in trade: unprecedented use of authorities like IEPA and 232, the temporary shock of 145% China tariffs, the demise of de minimis, a jump in effective average duty rates, and a surge in complexity around stacking, derivative tariffs, and country‑of‑melt reporting. She also touches on ACE edit‑check gaps, compressed implementation timelines, expanded ACAS data requirements, and pilots like the Global Business Identifier that signal a move toward progressive filing and deeper supply chain visibility. Cindy closes by reflecting on the vital role of trade associations, community, and collaboration—and shares her hope that next year's “manuscript” reads more like a romantic comedy than an action thriller. What You'll Learn in This Episode What the CIT's ruling in the Costco/IEPA case really means for injunctions and refunds Key updates: Switzerland–Liechtenstein trade deal, CBP stacking spreadsheet, and tariff collections How IEPA and 232 were used in new, expansive ways—including derivative and fentanyl‑related tariffs The “demise of de minimis” and its impact on trade flows and compliance workloads Why average effective duty rates have jumped from ~2–3% to around 17% How trade “deals” differ from formal FTAs and why they complicate stacking rules New data, timing, and ACE challenges: melt/cast reporting, missing edit checks, and 1‑day rollouts The growing role of pilots like GBI and progressive filing in reshaping future entry processes Why uncertainty itself—legal, financial, and operational—has become a major cost driver Key Takeaways 2025's trade “manuscript” is defined by unprecedented authority use, higher duty rates, and much more complexity. Rapid‑fire changes, thin guidance, and limited ACE edit checks have shifted more risk and responsibility onto importers, brokers, and software providers. Community, collaboration, and strong industry groups (ICPA, NCBFAA, AAEI, COAC) are essential to interpreting and managing ongoing change. As the trade community turns the page to a new year, the goal is a calmer, more predictable “script”—with fewer action scenes and more stability. Credits Host: Cindy Allen, TradeForce Multiplier Subscribe & Follow New “Cindy's Version” trade roundups periodically. Presented by: Global Training Center — providing education, consulting, workshops, and compliance resources for trade professionals.

In this episode of the BusinessLine Podcast – Year-Ender Series, Amiti Sen is joined by Biswajit Dhar, trade expert and former Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, to explore how India has navigated the geopolitically turbulent waters of 2025 and the impact on its international trade. Highlighting India's approach to strategic autonomy, “India has actually signalled that it is going to look after its own interests, very much in the way that President Trump has signalled to the rest of the world that he is concerned about US interests and little else,” says Professor Dhar. He further stresses the importance of this strategic positioning as countries move away from mutual interdependence. “In today's world, these kinds of mutual interdependence seem to have gone out of the window... every country will have to look at its own strategic interests, and India has done this,” Dhar adds. The conversation also touches on India's growing number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and its emphasis on diversifying trade partners, especially with the Global South. He advocates for stronger ties with developing nations, explaining, “Most of these countries have similar interests as ours... in critical areas like intellectual property and other issues such as standards, where the developing countries' standards are much more aligned with India's,”. Looking ahead to 2026, Professor Dhar underscores the importance of prioritising partnerships with Africa and Central Asia, where India's interests are best served. (Host: Amiti Sen; Producer: Siddharth MC)

The EU-US trade deal introduced during President Trump's administration marks a turning point for transatlantic economic relations, with direct consequences for Europe's highly integrated industrial value chains. While the agreement promises greater predictability and tariff reduction in some sectors, lingering disputes over standards, subsidies, and state support continue to create uncertainty for European exporters.In addition, the United States imposed in August 2025 new tariffs that are far higher than this 15% on a broad range of industrial products, in the context of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium derivatives. About 40% of US machinery imports from the EU are now subject to a 50% tariff on the metal content of the product. Moreover, it leads to additional bureaucracy. It is impossible for companies to find out where steel was cast and aluminium melted for each part. That is why some companies have stopped exports completely to the United States. These dynamics are particularly acute in industries where global competitiveness relies on innovation, scale, and stable market access.European industrial exporters—especially manufacturers of machinery and hightech equipment—are facing increasing challenges as access to key markets like the United States and China becomes more restricted. Some stakeholders believe that Europe's current trade strategy might not be fit for purpose. Considering this, industrial policy and trade diplomacy will be central in shaping Europe's response to these challenges. These could strengthen the EU's capacity for innovation, resilience, and sustainability, ensuring that European manufacturers remain competitive despite shifting global value chains.Beyond the transatlantic relationship, the EU's ability to deepen collaboration with other global actors such as China, India, and Mercosur will be essential. These partnerships not only offer alternative growth markets for European industrial goods but also serve as testing grounds for advancing fair trade practices or sustainability standards.Listen to this Euractiv Virtual Conference to explore the implications of the recent EU-US trade deal and assess its impact on Europe's export-oriented industrial sector. Questions to be addressed include:- What is the current state of transatlantic trade in industrial goods?- What is the impact of the US tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives and on key EU industrial sectors?- How are European machine manufacturers adapting to market pressures?- What is the role of emerging EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Mercosur, India, and other actors?- Could these FTAs compensate for losses in traditional markets like the US?

Host: Warrington Ellacott Guest: William Pellerin – Partner, International Trade & Investment Law, McMillan LLP Published: October 2025 Presented by: Global Training Center

The recent India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) put in the spotlight how many countries are using such deals to accelerate growth, access new markets, create jobs and lift people out of poverty. Fewer trade barriers are good for everyone. How exactly do FTAs work and help developing economies? And what are their pitfalls? Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry's Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire, and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph.The panel begins with a discussion on the recently signed “historic” India-UK free trade agreement. Venu argues that the BJP's intention behind this FTA is to have a “fresh start” in global trade negotiations: “In the last 11 years of the Modi government, the narrative they built, led by Piyush Goyal, is that all the FTAs signed by the UPA government were bad for India, that they were being used as a conduit for Chinese goods.”The conversation then shifts to Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation as vice president. Abhinandan asks who will oversee the Rajya Sabha “with the parliament session already happening, and all sorts of noise and protests”.Explaining the legal framework, Anand says, “Article 67 says that till the next vice president is appointed, he will have to continue. But he has made it clear that he will not be attending the House.” Venu draws a pattern of abrupt and unexplained resignations among the Indian political and bureaucratic elite: “There is a striking parallel in the manner in which Dhankhar, CBI chief (former Director) Alok Verma, and (former Election Commissioner) Arun Goel abruptly left. What is it that drives leadership in the Modi-Shah regime? There's intrigue, there's cloak and dagger, there's paranoia. Paranoia accompanied by complete power. It's a paradox.”Commenting on media speculation around Dhankhar's resignation, Anand says, “Journalists and public and social media commentators cannot say the simple thing that ‘we don't know'.” Jayashree adds, “It doesn't matter if there is any value to these theories. What matters is that you have a story, a source, the source has said something outlandish, and that is your headline.”The panel then shifts to the Bombay High Court's recent verdict on the 2006 Mumbai blasts. Raman explains: “It's a 576-page judgement talking about how the police have manufactured evidence in very great detail…This particular judgement has put a huge question mark on this state-specific law MCOCA.”Drawing from his decades of experience reporting on intelligence and security, Josy says: “One of the things that has always struck me was the impunity with which our police and investigative agencies are able to do pure malicious things and get away because there is no prosecution for malpractices.”Josy also sheds light on the complexities of police functioning and the political pressures that often influence investigations. “I think in India today, the most difficult job is not being a journalist or not being an NGO worker. I think the most difficult job is to be an honest government official.”Timecodes00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements00:05:50 – Headlines 00:14:20-FTA Deal between UK & India / VP's resignation00:47:55- MK Venu's recommendations00:54:02 - Bombay Blast acquittal by the HC01:21:30 - Josy's Recommendation01:27:33- Letters01:43:40- RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced and recorded by Amit Pandey, Ashish Anand and Anil Kumar. Research assistance by Vibha Rajeev. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Past FTAs failed to yield much benefit because they exposed domestic industries to global competition without strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem.  

India's dairy industry is quietly transforming and private players are leading the charge.In this episode of The Core Report Weekend Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with dairy industry veteran Rajiv Mitra about the rapid growth of India's private dairy sector, which now handles half the country's milk. From trade policy tensions with the US and UK to the challenges of exporting value-added dairy products like paneer, cheese, and yoghurt, this episode unpacks the economics, politics, and future of Indian dairy.Mitra explains why India protects dairy in FTAs, the role of 80 million smallholder farmers, and why local brands are thriving despite low margins and logistics hurdles. He also delves into the global export potential of Indian dairy — and what must change for India to compete.

Here's a question that'll make your head spin: What do you do when your top performer is crushing quota but not hitting a required talk time KPI? That's the question posed by Josh Robich and Josh Nelson from Nashville. Josh Nelson ranked 18th out of 130 reps in his first full year at a new company, but he was consistently falling short of the company's sacred talk time metric of 3 hours per day, averaging only 2.5 hours instead. Meanwhile, his company is obsessed with using talk time as its primary KPI to measure sales effectiveness. If you're shaking your head right now, you're not alone. Obsessing over the talk time KPI rather than actual sales outcomes is one of the most backward approaches to sales management I see today, and it's costing companies their best talent. The Moneyball Problem: When Metrics Become Religion Remember the movie Moneyball? Billy Beane revolutionized baseball by focusing on on-base percentage instead of traditional stats that looked impressive but didn't correlate with winning games. He found a metric that predicted success. Talk time is the opposite of Moneyball. It's a vanity metric that makes leaders feel like they're managing performance when all they are really doing is measuring noise. Here's the brutal truth: Talk time means absolutely nothing if it doesn't drive revenue. It means nothing if the conversations are shallow, non-productive, or a poor buying experience. You can have reps talking for 4 hours a day who are dead last on your ranking report, while someone like Josh is closing deals left and right with only 2.5 hours of phone time. Which one would you rather have on your team? Why Talk Time Is a Lazy Leader's Crutch The reason companies fixate on vanity metrics like talk time is because it's easy. It requires zero investment in actual coaching, observation, or skill development. Think about it: It's much easier to look at a dashboard and say, "You need to talk more," than it is to actually listen to calls, analyze technique, and provide meaningful feedback on discovery questions, objection handling, or closing skills. But here's what happens when you manage this way: You drive away your best performers and enable your worst ones. Your top performers get frustrated because they're being penalized for efficiency. Your bottom performers get comfortable because they can hit their talk time numbers while producing nothing of value. What Actually Matters: KPIs That Move the Needle Instead of obsessing over how long reps are talking, and other vanity KPIs, smart sales leaders focus on outcome-driven metrics that actually correlate with sales performance and closing deals. First-Time Appointments How many new conversations is each rep having? In sales, FTAs are your Moneyball. If a rep isn't setting enough first-time appointments, they are sub-optimizing their sales potential. Next Step Conversion Rates What percentage of first-time appointments convert to second appointments? This tells you everything about relationship building, discovery skills, and value articulation. If Josh is converting at a higher rate with less talk time, he's simply more effective per conversation. Show Rates How many scheduled appointments actually happen? This reveals qualification skills, the ability to create urgency and commitment, and the quality of prospecting conversations. Pipeline Velocity How quickly are deals moving through your sales process? This shows you who's truly building momentum versus who's just having long conversations that stall deals in the pipeline. Revenue Per Hour The ultimate sales efficiency KPI is who is generating the most revenue per hour of phone time. Stop Obsessing Over the KPI and Start Coaching When you shift your focus to outcome metrics, everything changes. Instead of telling reps to "talk more," you can provide specific, actionable coaching: For the rep who has great first-time appointment numbers but poor conversion rates: Focus on discovery questions, relationship building, and value articulation. For the rep with high talk time but low revenue: They're probably becoming friends instead of salespeople. Coach them on advancing the sale and creating urgency. For the efficient closer like Josh: Analyze their process and see where small improvements could yield massive results. Maybe 10 more minutes per call to deepen discovery could move them from 18th to No. 1. The Process Makes the Difference Here's what I loved about Josh's situation: His mentor noted that Josh "literally follows the script" and holds up the paper saying, "It says it right here, so I do it." That's the power of a repeatable, proven process. While other reps with more talk time were struggling because they didn't follow the system, Josh was winning because he had the discipline to execute consistently. This is pure Fanatical Prospecting in action: Success isn't about working harder or longer—it's about working the system with precision and discipline. The Balance Between Quality and Quantity Don't misunderstand me—quality conversations absolutely matter. You don't want reps burning through leads with transactional, 2-minute calls. But you also can't let "quality" become an excuse for inefficiency. The sweet spot is having enough conversations to fill your pipeline while making each conversation count. Use talk time as one data point among many, not as your primary success metric. If someone has extremely low talk time (say, 1 hour per day) and poor conversion rates, they're probably rushing through calls. If someone has extremely high talk time but poor results, they're probably avoiding the hard parts of selling—like asking for the appointment or creating urgency. Your Action Plan: Making the Shift If you're a sales leader: Audit your current metrics. What are you measuring, and does it correlate with revenue? Implement outcome-based KPIs. Track first-time appointments, conversion rates, and show rates alongside talk time. Invest in call coaching. Listen to your reps' calls and provide specific feedback on technique, not just effort. Stop penalizing efficiency. If someone is hitting their numbers with less talk time, study their process instead of criticizing their hours. If you're a sales rep: Self-coach relentlessly. Track your own ratios and identify where small improvements could yield big results. Follow your process religiously. Like Josh, have the discipline to execute your proven system consistently. Focus on effectiveness, not activity. Your job isn't to clock hours—it's to move deals forward with purpose. The Bottom Line Stop being a slave to lazy metrics. Talk time might feel like objective measurement, but it's actually just noise disguised as data. The best sales organizations measure what matters: conversations that convert, relationships that advance, and revenue that compounds. That's how you build a championship sales team. That's how you develop elite performers. And that's how you stop losing your best people to companies that understand what really drives results. Learn how to boost performance and retain top talent with practical strength-based coaching strategies.

Here's a question that'll make your head spin: What do you do when your top performer is crushing quota but not hitting a required talk time KPI? That's the question posed by Josh Robich and Josh Nelson from Nashville. Josh Nelson ranked 18th out of 130 reps in his first full year at a new company, but he was consistently falling short of the company's sacred talk time metric of 3 hours per day, averaging only 2.5 hours instead. Meanwhile, his company is obsessed with using talk time as its primary KPI to measure sales effectiveness. If you're shaking your head right now, you're not alone. Obsessing over the talk time KPI rather than actual sales outcomes is one of the most backward approaches to sales management I see today, and it's costing companies their best talent. The Moneyball Problem: When Metrics Become Religion Remember the movie Moneyball? Billy Beane revolutionized baseball by focusing on on-base percentage instead of traditional stats that looked impressive but didn't correlate with winning games. He found a metric that predicted success. Talk time is the opposite of Moneyball. It's a vanity metric that makes leaders feel like they're managing performance when all they are really doing is measuring noise. Here's the brutal truth: Talk time means absolutely nothing if it doesn't drive revenue. It means nothing if the conversations are shallow, non-productive, or a poor buying experience. You can have reps talking for 4 hours a day who are dead last on your ranking report, while someone like Josh is closing deals left and right with only 2.5 hours of phone time. Which one would you rather have on your team? Why Talk Time Is a Lazy Leader's Crutch The reason companies fixate on vanity metrics like talk time is because it's easy. It requires zero investment in actual coaching, observation, or skill development. Think about it: It's much easier to look at a dashboard and say, "You need to talk more," than it is to actually listen to calls, analyze technique, and provide meaningful feedback on discovery questions, objection handling, or closing skills. But here's what happens when you manage this way: You drive away your best performers and enable your worst ones. Your top performers get frustrated because they're being penalized for efficiency. Your bottom performers get comfortable because they can hit their talk time numbers while producing nothing of value. What Actually Matters: KPIs That Move the Needle Instead of obsessing over how long reps are talking, and other vanity KPIs, smart sales leaders focus on outcome-driven metrics that actually correlate with sales performance and closing deals. First-Time Appointments How many new conversations is each rep having? In sales, FTAs are your Moneyball. If a rep isn't setting enough first-time appointments, they are sub-optimizing their sales potential. Next Step Conversion Rates What percentage of first-time appointments convert to second appointments? This tells you everything about relationship building, discovery skills, and value articulation. If Josh is converting at a higher rate with less talk time, he's simply more effective per conversation. Show Rates How many scheduled appointments actually happen? This reveals qualification skills, the ability to create urgency and commitment, and the quality of prospecting conversations. Pipeline Velocity How quickly are deals moving through your sales process? This shows you who's truly building momentum versus who's just having long conversations that stall deals in the pipeline. Revenue Per Hour The ultimate sales efficiency KPI is who is generating the most revenue per hour of phone time. Stop Obsessing Over the KPI and Start Coaching When you shift your focus to outcome metrics, everything changes. Instead of telling reps to "talk more," you can provide specific, actionable coaching: For the rep who has great first-time appointment numbers but poor conversion rates:...

After almost two-decades of floundering negotiations, talks on an EU-India Free Trade Agreement have begun to gather momentum. Both sides seek alliances that cover not only trade relations but greater security cooperation and a shared technology agenda. In a signal of its strategic priorities, the College of Commissioners paid a first-of-its-kind visit to India in February 2025, where Prime Minister Modi and European Commission President von der Leyen pledged to conclude a Free Trade Agreement by the end of this year. In this IIEA panel discussion, Dr Sonali Chowdhry and Dr Amitendu Palit address the prospects of a potential EU-India Free Trade Agreement and consider what an EU-India partnership should or should not prioritise. At a time when the EU's Global Gateway Strategy has promised to create links, not dependencies, the panelists reflect on whether – in the words of President von der Leyen – EU-India ties have the potential to be one of the defining partnerships of this century. About the Speakers: Dr Sonali Chowdhry is a trade economist based at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Her work examines the structure of global supply chains and distributional effects of new trade policies. Dr Chowdhry has contributed to in-depth policy reports on mega-regional free trade agreements to the European Parliament. Previously, she was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and earned her PhD in Economics from LMU Munich as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. Dr Chowdhry holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar from India. Dr Amitendu Palit is Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. He specialises in economic security, international trade and investment policies, FTAs, supply chains, regional connectivity, and the Indian economy. He is a Senior Associate Fellow with the ISPI Milan and an Adjunct Faculty with the Centre for WTO Studies, India. He has also been a Member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Trade and Investment. Dr Palit has edited and authored several books. He writes for various global publications and features as an expert on CNBC, CNA, BBC, NDTV and other prominent media channels.

In this episode, author and journalist Puja Mehra speaks to trade policy expert Abhijit Das about what's at stake for India in its free trade agreement (FTA) with developed economies like the UK. Why do countries push for non-trade clauses such as labour, environment, and gender standards in trade deals? How do intellectual property (IPR) obligations affect India's ability to innovate? Drawing on his deep experience in global trade negotiations, Professor Das explains how developed countries often mask protectionist aims behind values-based clauses, how stringent standards can become new barriers to exports, and why India must be cautious about TRIPS-plus commitments. They also discuss how much FTAs actually contribute to export growth, and why domestic reforms—like cutting red tape and improving logistics—matter more for India's trade ambitions. Tune in for insights on how the fine print of FTAs can shape India's economic future.For more of our coverage check out⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecore.in⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube

There has been a lot of excitement around the India-U.K. trade deal — PM Narendra Modi termed the deal a "historic milestone" while announcing that both countries "successfully concluded an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement", and U.K. PM Keir Starmer recently called it a fantastic deal. India enjoys a trade surplus with the U.K., the deal could help India maintain its competitive edge. Under the deal, India will cut tariffs on 90% of British goods, with 85% becoming duty-free over ten years. In return, the U.K. will abolish duties on selected products, leaving 99% of Indian exports tariff-free. The deal talks about streamlining regulations, which could make India's exports cheaper to the British. Trade between India and the U.K. has grown over the past few decades, and trade relations between the two countries are set to become stronger due to this agreement. The U.K.'s government believes that the FTA will give bilateral trade an annual boost of £25.5 billion by 2040, while India has set a target to double trade to $100 billion by 2030. Given that India is negotiating trade agreements with other countries, can this FTA serve as a template for other deals? Guest: Amrita Saha, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Prime Minister ponders the GDT Auction, falling livestock numbers, carbon farming loopholes, the windfall from FTAs, and whether Trump won the Canadian and Australian elections for the left. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tyler Goss, from Tampa, has two critical sales questions: 1) How do we achieve those "crazy" prospecting numbers I talk about in my books? 2) When should a lead become a pipeline opportunity? In this podcast, I break down these answers in plain English. When to Create a Deal: Finding the Sweet Spot There's no shortage of opinions on when to create a deal in your CRM. Some sales leaders will tell you to create a deal before you even make the first call (ridiculous). Others won't let you create one until the contract is practically signed (equally absurd). Here's my take: Both extremes are problematic. You need a pipeline that gives you meaningful data. Here's how we handle this at Sales Gravy: For Inbound Leads: We categorize inbound leads into three distinct groups: 1. List LeadsThese are people who sign up for our newsletter or download basic resources where we only ask for a name and email address. They're joining our community, and while some might become customers down the road, they're not pipeline opportunities yet. 2. MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads)These folks have given us more detailed information through webinars or content downloads. They've provided their phone number, email address, company, role, etc. There's an implicit understanding that we might reach out, but they haven't expressed a direct interest in buying. I don't want these in my pipeline just yet. 3. Hot LeadsThese people come to us with their hands up, saying things like: "We've got a team of nine and want to do sales training" or "Our SKO is in February, and we want to hire Jeb. How much does he cost?" These leads have an open buying window and go straight into the pipeline. We'll close 95% of these because they've already self-identified as buyers. For Outbound Prospecting: When prospecting outbound we only put opportunities into the pipeline after the prospect has agreed to a first-time appointment (FTA). Here's why: First-time appointments are your Money Ball metric—they indicate the health of your prospecting efforts. When an FTA is in your pipeline, you can measure critical data points like: Show/no-show rates by rep Advancement rates from FTA to next stages Conversion rates from FTA to closed business If I have a rep setting tons of FTAs with only a 10% show rate, I need to diagnose that problem. If another rep is advancing 50% of their FTAs to the next stage, that tells me something completely different. The qualification point is simple: Both parties have agreed to step into the sales process. That's when it becomes a pipeline opportunity. Some organizations resist this approach because they only want "fully qualified" opportunities in their pipeline. I get it, but you're missing valuable data if you wait too long. Consider this example: If you work in an industry where everyone's under contract, and you know contract expiration dates, you might be tempted to automatically add prospects to your pipeline as their contract end dates approach. I wouldn't do that. Wait until you've had a conversation where they agree to meet with you to discuss options. That agreement to step into the process is your trigger. If you're putting everything into your pipeline, you're diluting your data. If you're waiting until deals are practically closed, why even have a pipeline? The sweet spot is somewhere in between—and for most B2B sales organizations, it's at the first-time appointment stage. Maximizing Prospecting Efficiency: How We Make So Many Calls Tyler also asked about those "crazy" prospecting numbers I mention in my books. How do my teams make hundreds of calls during designated call blocks? The answer boils down to three key principles: 1. Separate List Building from Prospecting Research and building lists is NOT prospecting. When we're prospecting, we're just chopping wood. We have our lists ready in advance, and when it's time to prospect, that's all we do. Too many salespeople mix research and prospecting, which kills efficiency. They take 12 minutes between calls, check email, watch cat videos, and then wonder why they can't get anything done. 2. Use High-Intensity Prospecting Sprints In our Fanatical Prospecting Boot Camps, we run high-intensity prospecting sprints. If I give you 15 minutes to make calls with the goal of setting one appointment, most salespeople will make at least 10 calls. Run four of these sprints, and you've made 40 calls minimum. Do that three times, and you've made 120 calls in just three hours. This isn't theory. We run these events for clients all over the country. Sales teams are consistently stunned by how many calls they can make when properly focused. 3. Create the Right Conditions The key is setting the right conditions. Use a simple dialer that lets you click and move to the next call quickly. Have your list ready. Eliminate distractions. Focus solely on making calls during your designated block. The Hard Truth About Prospecting Most B2B salespeople don't need to make hundreds of cold calls daily. With one solid hour of focused prospecting every day, most will set all the meetings they need. But here's the kicker—almost no one actually does this. They don't set the conditions for success. They don't separate list building from calling. They don't eliminate distractions. They don't create a cadence. Everyone is capable of hitting extraordinary prospecting numbers. They just need to decide to do it. Most people don't make that decision. Putting It All Together So, when should you create a deal? When both you and the prospect agree to step into the sales process, which is typically at the first-time appointment stage. And how do you hit those crazy prospecting numbers? By separating list building from calling, running high-intensity sprints, and creating the right conditions for success. The beauty of these approaches is that they're simple. No fancy technology or complex methodologies required. Just disciplined execution of the fundamentals. What I've learned over decades in sales is that success isn't about finding the magic bullet—it's about consistently executing the basics better than everyone else. Whether that's knowing exactly when to create a deal or understanding how to maximize your prospecting efficiency, the fundamentals will always drive results. Got a sales question or tough challenge and need answers? Then go to https://salesgravy.com/ask and Ask Jeb!

Tyler Goss, from Tampa has two critical sales questions: 1) How do we achieve those "crazy" prospecting numbers I talk about in my books? 2) When should a lead become a pipeline opportunity? In this podcast I break down these answers in plain English. When to Create a Deal: Finding the Sweet Spot There's no shortage of opinions on when to create a deal in your CRM. Some sales leaders will tell you to create a deal before you even make the first call (ridiculous). Others won't let you create one until the contract is practically signed (equally absurd). Here's my take: Both extremes are problematic. You need a pipeline that gives you meaningful data. Here's how we handle this at Sales Gravy: For Inbound Leads: We categorize inbound leads into three distinct groups: 1. List Leads These are people who sign up for our newsletter or download basic resources where we only ask for a name and email address. They're joining our community, and while some may become customers down the road, they're not pipeline opportunities yet. 2. MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) These folks have given us more detailed information through webinars or content downloads. They've provided their phone number, email address, company, role, etc. There's an implicit understanding that we might reach out, but they haven't expressed a direct interest in buying. I don't want these in my pipeline yet. 3. Hot Leads These people come to us with their hands up, saying things like: "We've got a team of nine and want to do sales training" or "Our SKO is in February, and we want to hire Jeb. How much does he cost?" These leads have an open buying window and go straight into the pipeline. We'll close 95% of these because they've already self-identified as buyers. For Outbound Prospecting: When prospecting outbound we only put opportunities into the pipeline after the prospect has agreed to a first time appointment (FTA). Here's why: First-time appointments are your Money Ball metric – they indicate the health of your prospecting efforts. When an FTA is in your pipeline, you can measure critical data points like: Show/no-show rates by rep Advancement rates from FTA to next stages Conversion rates from FTA to closed business If I have a rep setting tons of FTAs with only a 10% show rate, I need to diagnose that problem. If another rep is advancing 50% of their FTAs to the next stage, that tells me something completely different. The qualification point is simple: both parties have agreed to step into the sales process. That's when it becomes a pipeline opportunity. Some organizations resist this approach because they only want "fully qualified" opportunities in their pipeline. I get it – but you're missing valuable data if you wait too long. Consider this example: If you work in an industry where everyone's under contract, and you know contract expiration dates, you might be tempted to automatically add prospects to your pipeline as their contract end dates approach. I wouldn't do that. Wait until you've had a conversation where they agree to meet with you to discuss options. That agreement to step into the process is your trigger. If you're putting everything into your pipeline, you're diluting your data. If you're waiting until deals are practically closed, why even have a pipeline? The sweet spot is somewhere in between – and for most B2B sales organizations, it's at the first-time appointment stage. Maximizing Prospecting Efficiency: How We Make So Many Calls Tyler also asked about those "crazy" prospecting numbers I mention in my books. How do my teams make hundreds of calls during designated call blocks? The answer boils down to three key principles: 1. Separate List Building from Prospecting Research and building lists is NOT prospecting. When we're prospecting, we're just chopping wood. We have our lists ready in advance, and when it's time to prospect, that's all we do.

EDITORIAL: Make better use of FTAs | Apr. 17, 2025Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes#VoiceOfTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Tuesday, March 18th, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started.  India's Solar Growth Faces Execution Challenges Despite crossing 200 GW in renewable capacity, India's solar energy adoption remains slow, contributing under 10% to its electricity mix. While solar capacity surged from 3.7 GW in 2015 to over 100 GW, issues like weak transmission infrastructure, land acquisition delays, and hesitant power distributors persist. Moreover, the US SEC is probing Adani Green and Azure Power over alleged bribery in solar contracts. Experts suggest grid modernization, better state-Centre coordination, and rooftop solar expansion as key solutions to achieve the 500 GW renewables target by 2030. ABD Bets on Premium Liquor Amid Market Slowdown With India's liquor market cooling, Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD) is focusing on premiumization. The maker of Officer's Choice aims to raise its “prestige-and-above” segment share from 42% to 50% and launch two to three brands next fiscal. Managing Director Alok Gupta sees macroeconomic headwinds but remains bullish on high-end spirits like gin brand Zoya and single malt Arthaus. ABD is also expanding production and partnering with Ranveer Singh to drive brand growth, targeting double-digit value gains. India Braces for US Tariff Impact, Eyes Trade Diversification India's exports to the US may dip 3-3.5% if Washington enforces reciprocal tariffs in April. With a $35.3 billion trade surplus, India is under scrutiny as the US targets nations with higher import duties. However, India's FTAs and diversification into global supply chains could soften the impact. The US's 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports might even benefit India by easing competition. As US economic growth slows, India must prioritize value-added exports and alternative trade routes via West Asia. UNO Minda's EV Expansion Faces Market Realities India's auto industry grew 7% YoY in Q3FY25, but weak passenger and commercial vehicle sales weighed on momentum. EV registrations jumped 37%, boosting component maker UNO Minda, whose stock initially soared 60% on its EV push. However, with EVs contributing under 6% to revenue, shares corrected 30%. Minda continues investing in high-voltage powertrain components and expanding in Indonesia. While rising costs and debt pose challenges, rural two-wheeler demand and operational efficiencies could aid long-term growth. Meta Battles CCI Over WhatsApp Data Sharing Meta is challenging a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order banning WhatsApp from sharing user data with Facebook and Instagram, along with a ₹213 crore fine. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) will decide on May 13 whether to hear Meta's appeal before or after India's new digital data protection rules take effect. Meta argues that the forthcoming framework makes the CCI's ruling redundant, but regulators insist the case should proceed now. If NCLAT delays proceedings, it would mark a legal win for Meta. However, with India tightening data laws, Big Tech's data dominance remains under scrutiny.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is heading to India, taking with him one of the largest delegations a New Zealand PM has ever travelled with. And, the fanfare makes sense, given we currently export $718 million worth of goods to India annually, but we don’t have a formal free trade agreement. With the world’s largest population and on track to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030 – starting negotiations on that deal has been a priority for Luxon, above the other deals he’s focused on so far this term. Luxon even promised in the 2023 election campaign to finalise a deal within his first term of Government – but how likely is that, and what would a deal actually mean for New Zealand? Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls is with us to explain what all these agreements, memorandums, and FTAs actually mean. Then Bharat Chawla, chair India New Zealand Business Council, joins us to delve into New Zealand’s relationship with India. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Ethan SillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian livestock industries now produce high quality product, that is full tracebale, quality assured, with real time market information coming from a sophisticate supply chain that sells into high quality markets with preferential access including 16 FTAs. This has transitioned from an absolute commodity industry with only one free trade agreement, no traceability, national ID system, limited market information and a disconnected supply chain just 30 odd years ago. Today we are joined Jason Strong, a long time advocate and leader in the Australian livestock industries including as the former Managing director of Meat and livestock Australia and former CEO of the AACo, Australia's largest integrated cattle and beef producer, and is the oldest continuously operating company in Australia.Jason sees the greatest opportunity is making progress in areas that are efficiency productivity driven but has other knock on benefits, including the reduction of enteric emissions with the methane emissions from the base cow herd being the greatest challenge and poor reproductive performance being crucial to improving emissions intensity from these cows. Trust is the most critical thing to capitalism on these opportunities.  Send us a text

Nyheterna radio 09:00

The seafood industry isn't making the most of free trade deals.  FTAs with the UK, European Union, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership eliminated tariffs on some seafood.  However, at the recent Seafood Conference, it was revealed a large part of the industry is still paying.  Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Lisa Futschek told Mike Hosking they're working to figure out what's causing this problem.  She says it appears to be at the importer end where the paperwork is not being filled in correctly.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ministry of Commerce says China will strive to ensure its network of free trade areas contribute to about 40 percent of total foreign trade by 2030.

Investors in Asia are still processing the news of the sudden passing of Vietnam's long-serving leader, Communist Party Secretary General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in mid-July. Trong was one of the country's most powerful leaders in decades and had overseen the explosive growth of the Vietnamese economy – during which GDP more than doubled, Vietnam signed several significant foreign trade agreements (FTAs) and became a primary destination for investors' China +1 strategies. He is also behind Vietnam's aggressive anti-corruption campaign, known as the “blazing furnace”, which has taken down several very senior leaders and more recently had been a cause of real concern for foreign investors. His passing marks the end of an era in Vietnamese politics and has many watching closely to see how Vietnam's leadership will be structured. Angela Mancini, Partner, sits down with Steve Wilford, Partner, to discuss what the passing of Trong means for Vietnam and its business environment. Visit www.controlrisks.com/vietnam to contact our experts for an in-depth briefing. If you are looking for more analysis across South East Asia, please visit our South East Asia hub. 

Malaysia is looking to restart negotiations with the European Union on a free trade agreement, 12 years after talks stalled. Is the environment more ripe for an agreement to be reached this time around? We discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by FTAs with former deputy minister of international trade Ong Kian Ming.Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

BUSINESS: DTI to boost exports with partnerships, FTAs | April 18, 2024Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The chairman of the Australian Cattlemen's Association is in New Zealand looking at Marlborough oysters. We talk about the Rugby World Cup, Eddie Jones, Zanda McDonald Award finalists and FTAs with India and the EU.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Landry Signé, senior fellow in the global economy and development program and the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution and executive director and professor of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, leads the conversation about Africa on the global stage. FASKIANOS: Thank you and welcome to today's session of the Fall 2023 CFR Academic Webinar series. I'm Irina Faskianos, vice president of the National Program and Outreach here at CFR. Today's discussion is on the record and the video and transcript will be available on our website, CFR.org/academic. And, as always, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. We're delighted to have Landry Signé with us to discuss Africa on the global stage. Dr. Signé is a senior fellow in the global economy and development program and the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings Institution. He's also a professor, executive director, and the founding codirector of The Globalization 4.0 and Fourth Industrial Revolution Initiative at Arizona State University's Thunderbird School of Global Management, and distinguished fellow at Stanford University's Center for African Studies. He serves as chairman of the Global Network for Africa's Prosperity and is also the author of numerous scholarly publications and several books. His most recent is entitled, Africa's Fourth Industrial Revolution. And it was published by Cambridge University Press this summer. So, Dr. Signé, thank you very much for being with us today. I'm going to throw you a very big question, and you can take us in the direction you would like, by talking about the important challenges and opportunities facing countries across Africa. SIGNÉ: Hello, everyone. And thank you so much, Dr. Irina, for so kind an introduction. It's a pleasure to be with all of you today. So when it comes to Africa, I want to highlight a few key trends why Africa is playing such an important role in the global sphere. So the first thing that I want to share to everyone is Africa's transformation is more substantial than what most people will think. And this is for many reasons. One is that, especially pre-pandemic, trade and in and with the rest of the world have grown for about 300 percent, which exceeds the global average of a little bit less than 200 percent. So that is a key dimension to highlight. And this is also driven by the competition between emerging countries, such as, of course, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, China, and more established and industrialized nations such as the United States, France, and others. So that is one of the key trends that I want to highlight. So Africa is richer and is transforming much more than what most people will be thinking. So the second trend that I also want to highlight, why Africa is so important in the global sphere, is that by the end of this century Africa could reach about 40 percent of the global population. Listen, I said 40 percent. So this is incredible, especially as the continent represent now only about 17 percent of the global population. So that is a key dimension to take into consideration when speaking about Africa, how Africa engages with the rest of the world. A third trend that I also want to highlight is really the rise of global partnerships and the competition, as I highlighted, between emerging and established powers. So, as a matter of fact, between 2006 and 2016, for example, China trades with Africa surge with imports increasing by 233 percent, and exports increasing by about 53 percent. This is a substantial growth in engagement. And if we compare—so with Russia, for example, it was about 142 percent of change in imports from Africa and about 168 percent change in exports with Africa. So in comparison, and with the rest of the world was only about 56 percent for change in imports and 18 percent for change in export. So this is another key trend. And a country like the United States still needs to expand and to do much more in terms of those engagement. This also apply with—to the countries in the European Union in general. So another trend that I want to highlight is really the, let's say, fast urbanization that we see on the continent. So the continent will be growing from about five cities—will reach about five cities of more than ten million inhabitants, in comparison of only three in 2015. And will exceed fifteen cities of more than five million inhabitants, in comparison of about five to six in the recent year. So another point, when people speak about Africa, I want to speak about industrialization in Africa. Of course, we have to acknowledge the diversity of the continent. Some would say fifty-four member states, because we have about—those other ones recognized by the United Nations. But don't be surprised if you also hear people mentioning instead fifty-five countries, because the Western Sahara is also consider as a member of the African Union. So when speaking about industrialization, people may—some people may consider Africa as deindustrializing. But that is because they're not looking at one of the things that we call at the Brookings Institution industries without smokestacks. Those industries are important because they have similar characteristic when they compare to traditional manufacturing. And those similar characteristics include, for example, the tradability, they are labor intensive, and the store—they absorb a high quantity of moderately skilled workers. But they are also—they also have a high level of productivity. Irina, you mentioned my book on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I want to connect, because when people speak about digitalization, innovation, they will mostly think about the Silicon Valley. They will think about some of the emerging nations—Israel, India—in addition to the U.S., of course. A key dimension to highlight is that in the 1990s New York City had more mobile phone subscribers than the entire continent of Africa, where now the continent has hundreds of millions of mobile phone subscribers. So in addition, we have disruptive innovations such as mobile banking, with M-PESA, for example, which is a digital application allow—which allow to provide banking services, digital banking services, to African citizens. This is another illustration of the important dynamics with Africa. Let me finish with about two or three additional points, and I'm looking very much forward to the conversation. I will highlight the critical importance of regional integration. We have, for example, the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was adopted in 2018, ratified by a sufficient number of country in 2019, and was officially launched in January 2021. And that is an incredible speed from the signing to the coming into force of the second-largest trade organization in the world, or let's say trade area in the world, after the World Trade Organization, of course, in terms of number of countries. So this is a key dimension. And another trend to highlight, despite some of the challenges that we see in many African countries in terms of democratic retreat. The overall trend is that African citizens want democracy. So they want accountability. But they also want democracy to deliver. And let me finish with a trend related to business. The combined consumer and business spending in Africa will reach or exceed $16 trillion U.S. dollars by 2050, and about $6.7 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030. So Africa really is a place with phenomenal opportunities, despite the challenges that we see. Climate change affects Africa more than other regions, for example. Some of the most vulnerable countries in terms of state fragility. We have, as I also mentioned, some democratic recession. But despite those challenges, the continent is really growing and is really transforming at a very important pace. And I enthusiastically look forward to engaging, to answering your many questions. Thank you so much. FASKIANOS: Thank you very much. That was a great overview. Obviously, this is such a big topic. So now we're going to go to all of you for your questions. (Gives queuing instructions.) Alright, so the first question we're going to take is from Pearl Robinson. Pearl over to you. Q: Hello. Very pleased to meet you. I have a question, something I'm going to ask you to do. I'm at Tufts University. FASKIANOS: Thanks, Pearl. Q: Can you use this wonderful, optimistic introduction, and connect it with a discussion of the wave of coups in the West African Sahel? Because I find myself having to talk about both. And I thought that you began with the last decade's narrative of Africa's growth and opportunities. And today, everybody is talking about democratic decline and all of these coups in the context of everything. So I'd like you to put your talk onto an introduction for me to talk about the coup situation. SIGNÉ: Absolutely. Thank you so much for the question. So I have studied the—also the democratic situation in Africa from the—from the independence to the last decade. And one of the reasons, of course, when you have democratic interruption, there are serious reasons to be concerned. And this is mostly related to the ability of democratic governance to deliver. Typically when democracy is promoted with many of the Africans, one of the key argument which was chose is that democracy allows citizens to have a better standard of living, deliver economic outcomes, education, health, security, good governance, less corruption, among others. And many of the countries which have faced a coup are countries—when you think about Mali, we think about Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, among others—there are countries where citizen are facing serious economic—a serious economic situation, deteriorated by the pandemic, of course. They are not the only country but deteriorated by the pandemic. You also have a question—the security question in the Sahel especially, with violent extremism. But I want to put things in perspective because democratic development is a slow-moving process. And although it is very unfortunate some of the development that you are seeing in terms of coups, when you look at Africa in the long-term perspective, when I was looking, for example, in the 1980s, almost the entire continent was red. Red, meaning authoritarian. But now the majority of African countries have elections. More than half of those country have free, fair, and transparent, meaningful elections. They are able to choose their government. And this so I'd just highlight those point, to say I classify those countries—I had them in four categories. So one was the uninterrupted democracy. So the countries which once they become democracies, they remain uninterrupted democratic. And those countries are outperforming overall, economically speaking and with many of the other benefits of democracy that I've mentioned. But the countries which are interrupted are mostly the countries where democracy is not necessarily delivering wealth. But will that change the broader trend on the continent? I don't think so. So I think, yes, we have to acknowledge those challenges. We have to act vigorously to address them to reduce the negative impact. But those are not necessarily—I don't think that that makes Africa a hopeless continent, as depicted by the Economist in the early 2000s, as discussed before. I'll pause there. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take a written question from Tanisha Fazal's student Jack Drouin, and they're at the University of Minnesota: Will Africa as a whole ever compete at the same level as the United States and China in international trade and production? SIGNÉ: So the idea behind the African continental trade area is to make Africa stronger internationally when dealing with the rest of the world, while unlocking also the potential of trade within Africa. For example, when African countries trade with one another, more than 40 percent of products exported are manufactured products. Which mean that they create jobs and opportunities for young people, for women, for the economy. They accelerate industrialization. And when African countries trade with the rest of the world, about only 17 percent of those countries—of those—of the products exported are manufactured products. So the idea really behind the African Continental Free Trade Area is not just to grow African trade with—and improve countries' trading with one another. But it is also really to make Africa stronger when engaging with other countries. As a matter of fact, Africa still represents less than 3 percent of global exports. So this the reason why when I engage with some leaders, some are wondering if whether the AfCFTA was really needed. There is no doubt that the African Continental Free Trade Area was needed, because partnering and coming together to engage with them makes the continent stronger. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I've never seen so many questions. So I'm going to go next to Fordham IPED. They have their raised hand. It's the International Political Economy and Development Program at Fordham. Q: Hi. My name is Julisha. I'm a student here at Fordham in the IPED Program. And thank you for your presentation, Landry, if I may call you that—I'm sorry, Professor. My question is—and I come from the continent. My question to you is, you seem very optimistic about Africa, as we call it. But why exactly? What gives you this optimism, given the fact that different countries have varying problems, and also we've got different levels of infrastructure and productive capacities? And then also, we haven't had that much success in relation to the regional FTAs. So why optimistic specifically about this one? Should we focus more on maybe building stronger regional bodies and then come together as one consortium? SIGNÉ: Thank you so much for your question. I don't think that it is either/or. And you have to put in perspective also, again, when—I like to look at things from a historical perspective, putting things in context. And when we put things in context—again, I mentioned, for example, before, in less than a couple of decades Africa went from being a continent almost full of authoritarianism, to a continent where in perhaps the past six, seven years you have had an incredibly important number of countries which where the incumbent lost the election or was changed through an electoral process. So those are important gains not to overlook. When we also speak about poverty, for example, so we are also seeing positive—although, and I published an article at Brookings about it—why, despite the fast economic growth just before the pandemic, the continent had an important number of poverty. The key dimension here was poverty in terms of percentage of the population went down, but the continent is also growing at a fast rate, the population of the continent. So which means that even if you're in relative number you have a reduction of poverty, in absolute number we can still have an important number of poor. But if you also put that further in context, by removing—of course, you could not remove them—but by considering Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo, which are countries with the highest concentration—not the highest, but an important number of poor, the picture related to poverty on the continent will be very different. Another reason of my lucid optimism is that Africa—more than 50 percent of the African—close to 60 percent of the African population is below the age of twenty-five. So what this means, that everything is possible in an incredibly short duration. You probably know what we have named the Cheetah—what George Ayittey has named the Cheetah Generation. So the generation of young Africans who are dynamic, they are innovative, in opposition to the elephant who are moving slowly. So this is also another characteristic. When you look at innovation and you look at entrepreneurship, the general entrepreneurship survey globally, when you compare Africa to the rest of the world, the percentage of optimism, of interest in innovation, in entrepreneurship, of willingness and of respect for the field is also higher in general. So, again, I understand why most people will be focusing on challenges versus opportunity. But you also know, like me, that when in 2000 the Economist wrote that article about a hopeless Africa, in 2011 they wrote another issue about Africa rising, apologizing about their previous assessment. Because six to seven of the world's ten fastest-growing economies in the first decade—the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century, were located in Africa. So yes, we have numerous challenges. But most countries, which were at the level of development of many of the African countries, have also had challenges. So. yes, we have to address those challenges. And that is also part of what my work does with the Brookings Institution—identifying how to bridge the gap between the policy intentions and the implementation outcome. And a part of doing that is also to shift the mindset from looking exclusively at the challenges that Africa is facing, to also think about what are the opportunities? How can we identify those opportunities? How can we transform those opportunities into reality, into positive outcomes? Because the young generation in Africa deserve it. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next written question from Dayanara Miranda, who's an undergraduate student at Lewis University: My question is, besides agricultural and mineral resources, what other markets can African countries enter to grow their economies? SIGNÉ: So, that is another extremely important question. And let me say, overall Africa—so, it depends as to whether we are speaking about the consumer spending, household consumptions, or whether we are speaking about business spending. In terms of household consumption, by 2030 the continent will receive about $2.5 trillion U.S. dollars of household consumption or consumer spending. And some of the largest sector include food and beverage because people need to eat, but also include housing, healthcare, financial services, transportation, and education. So to put things in perspective, African countries will be growing faster in some of those sectors compared to the growth of other developing economies. Now, if I also think now about the business-to-business spending, so the continent will be home of about—of more than $4 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030. Of course, the largest area for that spending will include agriculture and agri-processing. But we will also have manufacturing, construction, utilities, transportation, wholesalers, and retailers in terms of resources. So, yes, a place—Africa is an important business destination for people who are, again, open to identify opportunities and to manage the risk. Of course, have risk, but those risks also exist in Latin America, exist in the Middle East. exist in the broader—in the broader Asia, and also in the—in some of the advanced economies. So, again, I think, like, a change of mindset is important. One of the reasons why China become the first trade partner of Africa, the first investor in infrastructure amount order, is because while other countries were looking at the challenges that Africa is facing, China and other emerging countries were looking at opportunity and how to manage their risk amount order. Of course, that is not to say that the Chinese model of engagement is necessarily the right one, but it's just to say that the difference of mindset may explain why some country may be identifying more opportunities than other. But I'm also very happy to highlight the fact that recently, the U.S. administration has also been very much active—much more active in terms of engaging with Africa from an economic perspective, from an opportunity business perspective, including the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. Thank you. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to take the next question from Dorian Brown Crosby. Q: Yes. Hello. Thank you, Professor Signé, for this discussion. I'm from Spelman College. And I do have a question regarding remittances. Can you speak to the current impact of remittances that those in the diaspora are sending to African countries? And how is that affecting Africa's economic trajectory? Or even speak to a specific country. Thank you. SIGNÉ: Absolutely. Thank you very much for the questions. Remittances are playing a key role in Africa. In some of the countries they are exceeding even, let's say, the official development assistance. So that is a key point to highlight. Perhaps the nuance that I want to bring is that most of the remittances are sent for consumption, for family consumptions, among others. A shift that we may want to see happen is to turn—(inaudible)—to increase perhaps those remittances, and especially the category of remittances, shifting only from consumption, for productive use, for economic use, for entrepreneurial activities, as well on the continent. But, yes, remittances are key for development. They are extremely important. They are making a difference. And I connect with that question with the notion of diaspora. The rising role of the diaspora is also one of the key trends. Of course, I didn't—I wanted to be brief in my preliminary comments, but diaspora are really playing a key role in fostering the relations between Africa and the rest of the world. They play the role of investor. You have also the remittances, as you have just mentioned. They are diplomat. In addition of the higher representation that we are also seeing of people of African origin in international organizations, whether we speak about the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the International Finance Corporation, among other. So there's really a trend where the diaspora playing a key role, both financially to remittances and have an increased demand, also for investment. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to combine two questions, two written questions, because they are along the same lines. One from Thomas at Oklahoma State University and Kihoa from Adelphi University, and it has to do with China: China's trade with—China's aid to Africa, is it purely altruistic? Should African states be receiving Chinese aid? And should Africa be giving aid to historically authoritarian regimes? And then the second question is to have you talk a little bit about the Belt and Road Initiative, and how that initiative is influencing trading partners with other Western countries. SIGNÉ: Absolutely. Thank you for the important question. So let me—to further speak about China in Africa, some key trends to highlight is that, first, you have an exponential growth of exports to Africa, increase imports from Africa, substantial lending to African countries. So China is already one of those, the major lending on transport, power, and mining, the Ex-Im Bank is really leading the way in terms of loans. I do prefer to speak about development versus assistance, development finance instead of developing assistance, or on the longer term, a growing trend in terms of FDI. So China is dominating also the important investment on the continent. You have an important presence of Chinese workers, and forgot—not to forget the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which remains critical to an action of the multiplication of the of the Confucius Institutes on the continent. Despite that important presence, a key element you mentioned is that per Afrobarometer survey, African citizen still prefer the U.S. model of development to the Chinese one. So this is an important dimension that I want to highlight. And whether China is altruistic, it's important to mention when we speak about the commitment, they are not necessarily—China is a country with its own national interests. Perhaps the way of doing business is different, but they are not acting toward Africa, from my perspective, from an altruistic perspective. They're really looking to achieve interest, whether from a geopolitical dimension, economic interest to secure especially energy, power, mining, oceans, agricultural lands for food security in China, among others. And many of the other countries in the world are doing the same. So I'm not—so, of course, we are speaking more about China, but most of the countries when they're acting globally they are acting in alignment of their interests. And probably Jentleson, for example, has mentioned when we speak about the U.S. foreign policy as some of their drivers, which include what are the—of course, we have power, we have peace, we have prosperity, and we have principles. So foreign policy decisions are usually, let's say, the result of a tradeoff between either power consideration, peace consideration, or security consideration, economic consideration, and principle consideration, which could include democratic development, and, of course, humanitarian intervention, and so on. So it depends on which country we are talking about. And to just connect it to the broader Belt and Road Initiative, I think that, of course, it is part from my perspective of China ambition to become the next global power. And in my conversation with many of the African leaders, their main concern—including head of states and head of governments—so their main concern is given the gap, the infrastructure gap that we have on the content, financing gap that you have on the continent, China is providing an alternative and China is acting quickly. However, many of the leaders with whom I'm engaging will prefer to deal instead with, for example, the United States. The United States is probably acting slower than some of the other players. But this is also because of the democratic process and the compliance mechanism, among others. But despite that, I think that there are still tools which can allow to be compliant, to respect the democratic principle, but also act faster, with more agility. And we are having conversations. I testified before the Senate on some of those questions, before the House of Representatives, before the U.S. International Trade Commission, sharing perspective on how the U.S. can further leverage its strength and the alignment to advance U.S.-Africa prosperity. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next oral question from John O'Toole. Q: Well, thank you, because my question directly kind of follows off of that. So that's very fortunate. FASKIANOS: Fantastic. Q: So my question was related to, like, Africa on, like, the global security scale. So, like you said, like, Russia and China are investing heavily, are—and becoming, like, major players, some might argue, in an attempt to be, like, first to market, in a way, in terms of being, like, colleagues with Africa. And you can't really pick and choose who your partners are, especially if the people you want to work with, like the United States or the EU, aren't moving as fast. But is there a concern that growing relationships with China and Russia could morph into a global security conflict? And that some African leaders might be afraid of becoming perhaps the next Lumumba where they're characterized as, you know, perhaps a communist pawn, or something? Is that part of the thought process? SIGNÉ: Thank you for the important question. So it's important to highlight a few considerations here. Typically, when many of the more established powers, whether you're speaking about France, the United States, UK, when they are engaging with many of the African countries they take into consideration the principles that I mentioned before, whether we speak about democratic principles, human rights consideration, humanitarian consideration, among other. So those are really key dimensions that are taken into consideration with more traditional African partners, although it is not uniform. So you will also have the same country which will be trading both with some of the authoritarian countries. But when doing so, they will often bring the question of democratic governance, of human rights in the conversation. And the difference there with countries such as China or Russia, is they are decoupling trade, investment, and principle quotient of democracy—democratic quotients, human rights quotients. For obvious reason, when you look also at your level of democratic development, or at the situation of human rights in your—in your countries. So now, what are the potential risk for the continent? I think that the—many of the—we have seen the presence, whether in an official capacity or in an unofficial capacity of foreign forces in Africa, including from Russia. So to what extent are they influencing the political sphere? To what extent are they fueling or contributing to fuel some of the insecurity and conflict that we have, as we say, in the Sahel? Or to what extent are they helping those country to address some of the challenges faced? I think the growing support that we have seen for Russia, or China, or for some of the emerging countries is related to a narrative, which may not always be founded, but a more appeasing and more respectful narrative that they have when engaging with some of the African countries. But that doesn't mean that they are acting in a way which better advance the interests of those countries. And African leaders are often in a complex situation where they don't necessarily—some of them, of course, will be very clear in terms of their preferences for Western countries. And others, in between, where they want to be certain that they will not be dropped, if I can use the terms. And this is because historically, even some of the best partners of the West—and we look at the case of Niger, when the military coup happened, so despite some political discourses the West was not able to do much. So those are elements which create also a certain level of insecurity on the continent. So yeah, your question is extremely important. And I think that there are risks which are associated with the—with the growing involvement of those emerging powers, like China, especially as it is shifting or has shifted from the economic quotient to a more security, military quotient and cooperation. But some of the countries with which they are cooperating, or perhaps even most of those countries in terms of military engagement, are not necessarily countries with their reputation or leaders with the reputation of—or with the best record in terms of democratic progress or in terms of human rights. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next question from Zachary Billot, a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas: How will increased environmental challenges related to climate change impact institution and governmental efficacy in Africa? Can Africa be expected to transition to green energy if there isn't substantial foreign investment? SIGNÉ: Absolutely. It is extremely important. Thank you for the question. It's extremely important to highlight the consequences of climate change on the continent, especially in the fragile countries, in the fragile regions, especially also when combined with governance challenges. So many of the conflicts in the Sahel—and I publish a—I co-published a report with Brookings on the question on how—on the nexus—on the climate change-security-development nexus. So many—if climate change doesn't necessarily—the relation between climate change and conflict is not necessarily causal, but there is a strong correlation at least when it comes to exacerbating initial conditions in regions where you have poverty and where governance is already quite weak. So the question is, yes, climate change is increasing the likelihood of conflict, especially in an area where we already have bad governance, or poor performance. And how to address some of those questions? Of course, we have involved also in drafting the human development—the Sahel Human Development Report, where the topic is on using energy to unlock Africa potential to contribute to sustainable development, how we can leverage in a sustainable way. And, yes, I do believe that the continent has a path. So of course, I will not necessarily disclose the findings, because they will have to be officially launched by the United Nations Development Program later this year, early the next one. But there is a clear path for Africa to achieve a greener future, especially as the continent has, I would say, the luxury of learning from what has been done on the negative experiences of some of the advanced economies. But also on capitalizing on technology to achieve those goals. Now, you mentioned about investment. Yes, that is an area where global partners who have committed, including the United States, France, Canada, among others, to support a greener revolution, economic revolution, energy transition, industrial development on the continent also have to play their part. Of course the global community, the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, among others. So Africa has the potential to achieve it, but not alone. With the collaboration of global partners, including some of the biggest polluters. FASKIANOS: Great, thank you. I'm going to go next to Alicia Hoffman. Q: Hello. How are you? I have a question regarding some previous legal agreements that were put forth between the ACP countries and the European Union. So my question is, I would like for you to highlight and discuss the role of the comprehensive legal agreements such as the Rome Agreement, that is now defunct, the Lomé Agreement, the Cotonou Agreement and now the post-Cotonou Agreement, which was just finalized last month, and get some of your opinions or your thoughts about the post-Cotonou Agreement in fostering the economic development of African countries. And also mitigating the issues dealing with migration and even human trafficking that kind of were not really addressed clearly in those earlier agreements, such as the Rome, and Lomé, and the Cotonou. SIGNÉ: Thank you so much for the extremely important question. So I think that to put things in context, as you mentioned, the Lomé Agreement, the Cotonou Agreement, and other agreement, when we look—again, I like to look from an historical perspective. So we clearly see that if a single agreement was almost having the impact of a magic stick, Africa will be in a different position now. So all those agreements, of course, and some of those agreements are benefiting, at least per the perspective of some of the African countries, they are benefiting more the European Union countries and France than perhaps, per se, in the absolute term, the African countries. Because many of the key players in those countries in industrial development, among others, are foreign corporations, which are originating from those countries. But let me instead speak in a in a broader perspective. I think that the responsibility for Africa's development really lie primarily with African leaders and citizens. So it's a notion that I think we should really come back to. Of course, when we discuss then the relation within Africa and the rest of the world, Africa has been historically in a situation where it was abused—from slavery, to colonization, and so on. But as you have seen in in my permanent record, I'm also part—most of my work consists not only at looking at those structural asymmetries that we can see on the continent, but at giving back the responsibility, accountability of the African leaders, despite the asymmetrical relation they may be having with some of the other part of the world, still have the power and the responsibility to better deliver for their citizens. So, yes, I think that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as I mentioned, also represents an opportunity to address some of those challenges. But, of course, some countries will—we also have the political economy of the AfCFTA, in the sense that some country—and the ones which are the most advanced, economically speaking—the most enthusiastic about accelerating the implementation. But the beauty of the AfCFTA is that they also acknowledge some of the country we may potentially be left behind and have specific growth or special and differential treatments allowing the countries with more challenges to be—to be developed. So, again, I think that, yes, it's extremely important for Africa when engaging with the European Union to really find a configuration which would unlock the industrial development of the continent, and not necessarily just rely on the primary goods, among others. FASKIANOS: So, thank you. I'm you're going next to Charlotte Langeveld, who's a lecturer at Ocean County College: To which identity do the young African people prefer to be associated with, ethnic or national identity? While national identity is superficial and ethnic is real, it has consequences for the future of the continent. SIGNÉ: So yeah, so that is probably a specific survey should be developed and in a systematic way to provide a definitive response to that question. But we have different, again, multiple belonging. Like some African citizens, especially young people, will want to be presented as African, even beyond your nation, or as global citizens. But it is clear that ethnic—the ethnicity continues to play a role on the continent, because although younger Africans speak less than the previous generation local dialects and languages, so it is important to also highlight that it is part of a broader cultural system. So I don't think that it is either/or. So if you think also about citizens of the Africa—of the European Union, are French people considering more French than European, or more European than French? I would say it probably depends, but that multiple belonging remain valid. And although the comparison is slightly different, are Californians believing that they are more Californian than American or are more American than Californian? So, but understanding also the potential implication of the question is that it is extremely important to keep—in nation-building to go beyond the questions or the notions which are dividing, to focus on the common values, and systems. So I don't think that's a problem for young people to have multiple belongings or ideas of belonging. What is—what could be a bad thing is to use those differences for discrimination, for poor governance, among others. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to go next to Kimberly Pace. Q: Hello, Landry. It's nice to see you. I have—my question is—hi, University of Alaska, Anchorage. My question is regarding women and girls. My question is, you know, given the role that violent extremism has had in Africa, what is the effect—what do you think is the effect on the economic and political opportunities for girls and women across African countries? Would love to hear your response. SIGNÉ: Absolutely. Hello, Kimberly. And so great to see you. And so I'm looking forward to following up after this session. So this is an extremely important question. There is no future of Africa without a full acknowledgement of the critical importance of women and girls, and not just economically speaking, politically speaking, in all the spheres of society. Just speaking economically, the gross domestic product of the content in some country could be increased by more than 50 percent with the full—or, about 50 percent—increase from 2 to 48, 49 percent with the full integration of women in society, in the economy, among other. So, and it is incredibly painful to see how in some countries, especially in situations of conflict, some of the first victim—the main victims, are girls, are women, or young people in as well, in general. So it is therefore extremely important, I think, to further empower women. But when you speak about empowering women, most people will think about empowering them politically, in particular. But for my conversation with many heads of state—former head of states, including President Banda or President Gurib-Fakim, so in our conversation it appear clearly that one of the best way to empower women politically is first to empower them also economically. Because when you're empowered economically you can organize a campaign, you can be a fully contributing member, and you can be independent. So, yes, addressing conflict, human rights challenges, will be a way to further protect women, because when you have war, when you have civil conflict, they are typically the most vulnerable people and they are often the one who are the most abused by a protagonist. So yeah. So I fully concur to the fact that we have to act in a more vigorous way to protect women, to create opportunities for women, and to empower women. And some of my best models, not to say most, are women. And starting with my mother, my sisters, and yeah. So I couldn't agree more with you. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to take the next question from William Decourt, who's at Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University: You mentioned surveys indicating widespread support for democracy across the continent. How have you seen public opinion in Africa responding to or shaping norms of liberal governance on the continent? And has it been affected by other challenges, such as the recent coups, influence from Russian mercenaries, and perhaps from increased Chinese investment too? SIGNÉ: So, just to be certain that I understand, and thank you so much for the important questions, is also about some of the trends on the continent related to democratic support, and the overall political situations. One of the reasons, and please, Irina, feel free to engage and follow up as needed. So one of the reasons why we have seen coups, of course, some—you have to put things in context. I mentioned that before. Many of the African citizens really want democracy to deliver. And not just democracy to deliver—if you live in rural contexts. At the origin of modern states is the social contract, which require that while a citizen will be giving up some of your fundamental—some of your rights, you will receive in exchange from states basic public services and goods, including security, economic opportunities, among others. But when those are not delivered, whether in a democracy or in a nondemocratic regime, that is when you have more challenges. Which could lead in some cases to a military coup, as we have seen, because then coup leaders may justify that—may justified their action by the imperative of restoring security or bringing about economic opportunities. So I think that is a point that I first want to highlight, to insist on the fact that, yeah, so the—those surveys show that on one hand, Africans want democracy. On the other hand, they want those democracies to deliver. And sometime even in democratic countries, some leaders are not necessarily governing in the way which is aligned with accountability. And those are the reasons why some coup leaders will also be supported by some citizens as an alternative, not to restore a long-term authoritarian system, but perhaps organize a transition. But from my perspective, it's one of the reasons why I think that—for many reasons. But one of the key reasons why I think coups even in a very contested context are extremely bad is one of the best predictors of a coup is a previous coup. So once military got involved in politics, even after a successful short-term transition and return to power to the civilians, the likelihood of having another coup is high. So that is one of the reasons why I think it's very important to invest in citizen, and invest in democratic development, and also invest in making democratic countries, African democracies, African democratic countries, deliver better for their citizens. FASKIANOS: Well, Landry, we are unfortunately out of time. And I apologize to all of you who had wonderful questions, we could not possibly get to them all, and raised hands. So we will just have to continue the conversation, and organize another conversation around these important issues. But, Landry Signé, thank you very much for being with us today. We really appreciate your comments and your analysis. And you can follow Landry on X, the app formerly known as Twitter, at @LandrySigne. It's spelled S-I-G-N-E. And our next Academic Webinar will be on Wednesday, October 25, at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) with Stephen Biddle, who's an adjunct senior fellow here at CFR and professor at Columbia University, to talk about military strategy in the contemporary world. And in the meantime, I'd encourage you to learn about CFR paid internships for students and fellowships for professors at CFR.org/Careers. Please visit CFR.org, ForeignAffairs.com, and ThinkGlobalHealth.org. We have been posting a lot of content there in light of the Israeli-Hamas conflict. So there are a lot of resources on our homepage that I commend to all of you. And again, Landry Signé, thank you very much for being with us today. SIGNÉ: Thank you so much, Irina. And thank you so much for the wonderful questions, conversation, and to the incredible team which has put everything together. FASKIANOS: Thank you. (END)

The Lakers are looking much more like a good bet to finish in the West's top 10, a big change from a month ago when the Lakers were staring down the barrel of weeks without LeBron James available to play. But they went 8-5 in his absence, managed to stay right in the thick of things in a Western Conference that just refuses prosperity, and actually still could finish as high as sixth if things break the right way and the Lakers run, or mostly run, the table.LeBron said himself after Sunday's loss that he was certainly inspired to crank up the rehab to 11 in order to try and get back on the floor, given how well the team was hanging in. It had an impact. And had the Lakers lost their first six or so games after his injury, that calculus would have (rightly) changed.So with all that in mind, should he have communicated a little better with the team about his recovery? They seemed to sort of know he was on the mend (they know he's working out, for example), knew enough to upgrade him to doubtful on Saturday (which is actually a big needle move, indicating there's a chance he could play) then questionable on Sunday morning. So was the seemingly rocky game plan a result of the Lakers being caught with their proverbial pants down? Should they have had a plan in place for whatever game in which James returned? Multiple plans for multiple scenarios?And what about Anthony Davis. Eight shots against the Bulls, part of a pattern where in too many games, Davis simply doesn't get enough shots up. And when the FGAs go down, so do the FTAs. Not a good formula for a team that needs as much offense as it can generate.And Pat Bev did Pat Bev stuff, and for the day at least, got to relish in it. But what's the deal with the toilet paper thing?HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: The Lakers really do have a chance to make a little noise, and that influenced LeBron's rehab.SEGMENT 2: Why isn't AD consistently getting 20 shots a night?SEGMENT 3: Pat Bev, trolling even when he's not technically trolling.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order.Ultimate Pro Basketball GMTo download the game just visit probasketballgm.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONFanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don't miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers are looking much more like a good bet to finish in the West's top 10, a big change from a month ago when the Lakers were staring down the barrel of weeks without LeBron James available to play. But they went 8-5 in his absence, managed to stay right in the thick of things in a Western Conference that just refuses prosperity, and actually still could finish as high as sixth if things break the right way and the Lakers run, or mostly run, the table. LeBron said himself after Sunday's loss that he was certainly inspired to crank up the rehab to 11 in order to try and get back on the floor, given how well the team was hanging in. It had an impact. And had the Lakers lost their first six or so games after his injury, that calculus would have (rightly) changed. So with all that in mind, should he have communicated a little better with the team about his recovery? They seemed to sort of know he was on the mend (they know he's working out, for example), knew enough to upgrade him to doubtful on Saturday (which is actually a big needle move, indicating there's a chance he could play) then questionable on Sunday morning. So was the seemingly rocky game plan a result of the Lakers being caught with their proverbial pants down? Should they have had a plan in place for whatever game in which James returned? Multiple plans for multiple scenarios? And what about Anthony Davis. Eight shots against the Bulls, part of a pattern where in too many games, Davis simply doesn't get enough shots up. And when the FGAs go down, so do the FTAs. Not a good formula for a team that needs as much offense as it can generate. And Pat Bev did Pat Bev stuff, and for the day at least, got to relish in it. But what's the deal with the toilet paper thing? HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: The Lakers really do have a chance to make a little noise, and that influenced LeBron's rehab. SEGMENT 2: Why isn't AD consistently getting 20 shots a night? SEGMENT 3: Pat Bev, trolling even when he's not technically trolling. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order. Ultimate Pro Basketball GM To download the game just visit probasketballgm.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store. PrizePicks First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDON FanDuel Make Every Moment More. Don't miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the years, Vietnam has emerged as a promising country for many international investors thank to its strong annual economic growth and key factors that contribute to this success – namely a stable political system, a young and dynamic workforce, a low wage economy and a growing middle class. While there are still concerns about the investment environment in Vietnam, the Vietnamese mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has seen an increasing number of financial and strategic investments, leading to a sharp rise in the total transaction value. How it works and what are the opinions of the German experts from legal and investment perspectives? In our podcast episode, Mr. Martin Seybold - Attorney-at-Law, Luther LLP to have a conversation with our Host, Mr. Marko Walde – Chief Representative of AHK Vietnam, sharing about their perspectives on various aspects of M&A in Vietnam, including commercial issues, legal frameworks and impacts of FTAs. We will have an overview of the M&A transactions in Vietnam, understand the pros and cons of Due Diligence and what are the opportunities and the challenges of EVFTA. ❗❗❗Download and Enjoy Listening!

Pricing is all about value. The more you give, the more you win. This is a very simple concept, yet it is not as easy as it sounds. In today's digital age, it can be easy to fall into the trap of trying to be everything to everybody. It's important to remember that by setting boundaries and charging accordingly, can help you create a stronger brand and a stronger business. This Sales on the Rocks episode is here to tell you why you don't need a million and one offers to reach your revenue goals, how scarcity works in sales and why it is so damn effective as well as how to properly execute the scarcity tactic with your business and the first few things you should be tracking and monitoring after hiring a salesperson.What's in JJ's glass: Parker's Heritage Collection | Heaven Hill DistilleryThis Cast Covers: JJ went on a wine-tasting tour that used a reverse psychology scarcity tactic on them (03:28)Is this scarcity tactic something that you can also spin in B2B sales or more for D2C only? (06:01)Joey exposes Bugatti for incorporating the scarcity tactic really well in their sales (07:27)Stuff we said we'd never do but are now doing (12:19) The most advantageous way to package your services and why less is more is always the way to go (17:05)A problem JJ keeps noticing with the clients they work with wherein they can't or won't execute the sales management training we've given them (21:54)Why founders and business owners either overlook the sales accountability tools we give them despite training and coaching them on how to use them (23:24)A solution Joey proposes that's honestly the most basic and non-negotiable activity you need to do if you want to fix this issue (24:17)Joey and JJ workshop through how to train salespeople using a phased on-ramp and what trainers should be looking for from one phase to the next (26:17)Activities Joey would love to see sales reps doing in the first couple of weeks of their training (27:40)Why it's important to not only track activities but also focus on measuring the outcomes of those activities, such as the number of FTAs booked (28:54)This same kind of measuring and tracking activities and outcomes of sales reps can also be used in our timeline with clients (31:33)Defining the win at different stages in the engagement is a mappable application (31:53)Joey and JJ go into a semi-deliberation between two candidates who are gunning for the closer role at SDA (36:23) If we both had to make a decision today, who would we pick from the two (45:46)Why JJ actually liked trying to sell the role to the candidate because it feels like the candidate has the upper hand (47:04)Joey puts JJ on the spot with this question: What's it like making as much money as you're making now? (50:27)Generosity is a great metric of mastery over money (20:59)Joey's core focuses or thoughts around generosity (23:10)Having a purpose for your money (25:41)Additional Resources:The Sales Driven AgencyThe Best Damn Agency Mastermind

How is ESG impacting global trade relations? Moderator: Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute Panellists: Emily Rees, Senior Fellow at ECIPE and Managing Director at Trade Strategies Marie Kasperek, Executive Director of the Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) at Georgetown University Law Vasuki Shastry, Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House This podcast episode was recorded on 17 June 2022 The 2022 edition of the AIG Global Trade Series explores the competition and connectedness that characterise the current trade landscape. In this podcast, Rem Korteweg (Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute) is joined by Emily Rees (Senior Fellow at ECIPE and Managing Director at Trade Strategies); Marie Kasperek (Executive Director of the Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) at Georgetown University Law; and Vasuki Shastry (Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House). Listen as they discuss the normative side of trade: Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Values and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. ESG plays an increasingly important role in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. As geopolitics continues to impact the global trade landscape, there is an increasing US and EU focus on developing a values-based trade agenda. How is the introduction of ESG criteria impacting global trade relations? And what role do values play in shaping contemporary trade ties? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast series are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of American International Group, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates (“AIG”). Any content provided by our speakers are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything. AIG makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, or validity of any information provided during this podcast series and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses injuries, or damages arising from its use.

There is a new acronym in the alphabet soup of legislation acronyms in Congress: the SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Act. The bill seeks Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to be paired with approval of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program in hopes to pass new Free Trade agreements (FTAs) as soon as possible (ASAP)

Stephanie Honey is a trade policy consultant and former New Zealand trade negotiator. She focuses on digital trade and services, Asia-Pacific regional economic integration, the WTO, agriculture, and inclusion in trade. Stephanie serves as Deputy Executive Director of the APEC Business Advisory Council, Associate Director of the New Zealand International Business Forum, and is the co-founder of Global Trade Insights, a business offering executive education in trade policy. Today, she discusses digital trade, the latest developments in digital trade in FTAs, and the WTO e-commerce negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tradeexperettes/message

Free trade agreements are the cornerstone of any strong economy. With India's policymaking and foreign policy shifting toward becoming the next manufacturing hub, FTAs are integral for our growth into the next global superpower. Today, we have our guests Rahul Bajoria and Nirav Kanodra. Rahul is the Chief Economist at Barclays, focusing on Asia–Pacific, with a special emphasis on India's macroeconomy and policy making. Nirav is an investment banker based out of Singapore with extensive experience in sales and trading. He is also considered a prominent voice when it comes to macroeconomic issues. In this episode, they speak about topics such as the significance of FTAs and their use as a strategic tool, how FTAs can ensure optimal economic growth, Indo-Australia agreement, future FTAs that India might sign, and more.

Lecture summary: In December 2020, the UK and five partners signed the 'Agile Nations Charter', reflecting its participants commitment to 'a more agile approach to rule-making ... to unlock the potential of innovation.' Around the same time, the World Economic Forum published a toolkit on 'Agile Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution'. The aspiration for regulatory agility is everywhere. This lecture charts the ways in which the 'agility agenda' has emerged across a range of spaces of governance, including the OECD, new generation FTAs, and regulator-to-regulator agreements, and asks how this agenda is reshaping regulatory governance at the global level. What is meant by 'agility', and how is it produced? What international legal forms and techniques are amenable to agility? What questions should we be asking, to guide research into, and thinking about, regulatory agility at the global level? Professor Andrew Lang joined the Edinburgh School of Law in 2017 as the Chair in International Law and Global Governance. Prior to that, he was Professor of Law at the London School of Economics. He is an expert in Public International Law, with a specialty in International Economic Law and the Law of the World Trade Organization. He has a combined BA/LLB from the University of Sydney, where he was a double University Medallist, and his PhD is from the University of Cambridge.

Lecture summary: In December 2020, the UK and five partners signed the 'Agile Nations Charter', reflecting its participants commitment to 'a more agile approach to rule-making ... to unlock the potential of innovation.' Around the same time, the World Economic Forum published a toolkit on 'Agile Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution'. The aspiration for regulatory agility is everywhere. This lecture charts the ways in which the 'agility agenda' has emerged across a range of spaces of governance, including the OECD, new generation FTAs, and regulator-to-regulator agreements, and asks how this agenda is reshaping regulatory governance at the global level. What is meant by 'agility', and how is it produced? What international legal forms and techniques are amenable to agility? What questions should we be asking, to guide research into, and thinking about, regulatory agility at the global level? Professor Andrew Lang joined the Edinburgh School of Law in 2017 as the Chair in International Law and Global Governance. Prior to that, he was Professor of Law at the London School of Economics. He is an expert in Public International Law, with a specialty in International Economic Law and the Law of the World Trade Organization. He has a combined BA/LLB from the University of Sydney, where he was a double University Medallist, and his PhD is from the University of Cambridge.

It's episode 50 (!) of ConsEUmer! This week:

Continuing the series on the US - KE FTA, this episode brings you key insights on public participation in trade agreements put into context by the recent confusion surrounding the UK - Kenya EPA. What can be learnt from this? How can effective and meaningful public participation be carried out for FTAs? This episode answers these questions by highlighting the legal framework for public participation in Kenya, what happened with the UK - Kenya EPA, and what this may mean if the US - KE FTA negotiations result in an FTA. Joined by Joanna Kahumbu and Peace Kioko, Dr. Melissa Omino hosts this episode and leaves us with a lot to think about on what meaningful public participation should look like.