Wednesday, May 9, 2007

InfoShop Event on May 15 at 3:00pm "India Case Study: From Competition at Home to Competing Abroad"

InfoShop and the South Asia Poverty Reduction and Economic Management
cordially invite you to a discussion of a recent publication:

From Competition At Home to Competing Abroad: A Case Study of India?s
Horticulture
by Aaditya Mattoo, Deepak Mishra, and Ashish Narain

A new World Bank and OUP report examines the paradox that while India is a
large, low cost agricultural producer, its share in global agriculture exports
is minuscule. India produces nearly 11 per cent of all the world?s vegetables
and 15 per cent of all fruits, yet its share in global exports of vegetables is
only 1.7 per cent and in fruits a meager 0.5 per cent. Based on an integrated
analysis of the sector?from farm to market?on the basis of primary surveys of
farmers, agents, and exporters across fifteen Indian states, the report lists
three major factors that are undermining India?s potential for reaching
supermarkets across the globe: (i) The high delivery costs of getting
agricultural produce from farm to market; (ii) The existence of a huge gap
between the health, safety, and quality standards required abroad and the weak
standards and assessment mechanisms in India; and (iii) Pernicious forms of
trade protection and a system of special safeguards that is a source of
considerable uncertainty for successful exporters.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007
3:00 - 4:30pm
World Bank J Building J1 - 050
(701 18th St. NW corner of 18th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.)


Chair
Praful Patel
Vice President, South Asia Region
Praful Patel is the Vice President of South Asia Region in the World Bank. He is
a Ugandan national, who joined the Bank in January 1974 as a part of the Young
Professional Program. Since then he has held several positions and has worked on
almost all regions of the World Bank. He was promoted to his current position as
Regional Vice President, South Asia Region in 2003. Mr. Patel's academic
qualifications include Bachelors Degree in Architecture (1st Class Hons)
University of Nairobi, with a final year program at Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
Copenhagen (1971); M.A.A.S. (Thesis on Urban Settlement Design in Developing
Countries), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973) and General Manager
Program - Harvard Business School (1996).

Authors
Aaditya Mattoo
Lead Economist, DECRG
Aaditya Mattoo is Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World
Bank. He is leading a project on international trade in services, specializes in
trade policy analysis and the operation of the WTO, and is helping enhance
policy-making and negotiating capacity in developing countries. Prior to
joining the Bank in 1999, Mr. Mattoo was Economic Counsellor at the Trade in
Services Division, WTO, Geneva. He also served as Economic Affairs Officer in
the Economic Research and Analysis and Trade Policy Review Divisions of the WTO.
Mr. Mattoo has lectured in economics at the University of Sussex and was lector
at Churchill College, Cambridge University. Mr. Mattoo is an Indian national
and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from King?s College, University of Cambridge, and
an M.Phil in Economics from St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford.

Deepak Mishra
Senior Economist, South Asia PREM
Deepak Mishra is Senior Economist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic
Management Unit in the South Asia region of the World Bank. He has been leading
a World Bank project to help the Government of India to develop an informed
strategy for reform and negotiations in trade in services and agriculture. He
also specializes in sub-national issues?as the task manager of policy-based
budget support operations to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar and as one of the leading
authors of sub-national economic reports on Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Sindh
(Pakistan). Prior to joining the Bank, he worked for the Federal Reserve Board
and Tata Motors in various capacities. Mr. Mishra is an Indian national and
holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Maryland, College Park, and an
M.A. in Economics from Delhi School of Economics

Discussant
Will Martin
Lead Economist, DECRG
Will Martin specializes in analysis of trade policy reforms in developing
countries, with an emphasis on reforms related to the WTO, and a regional focus
on East and South Asia. He has written extensively on policy reforms in
agricultural trade, textiles and clothing, and non-agricultural trade generally.
Mr. Martin has a particular interest in using detailed data on trade barriers to
build up a complete picture of the effects of trade barriers on trade and
welfare. Mr. Martin has published widely in journals, and several books,
including recent studies of global trade reform and of China?s accession to the
WTO.

About the InfoShop
The InfoShop is the public information center and development bookstore of the
World Bank. It functions as the only publicly accessible space at headquarters,
providing internal and external audiences access to over 6000 titles published
by the World Bank, other international organizations, and other publishers on
development issues. It is a space where information and documents on World Bank
development operations, economic data, and strategies, can be read easily and
comfortably at workstations designed for public use. In addition, the InfoShop
hosts book launches, exhibits, seminars, receptions, and other community
outreach events, and also carries videos, posters, CD-ROMs, and gift items.
For more information, visit: www.worldbank.org/InfoShop

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