Developing and Developed Countries

Definition of a “developing country” in the WTO 

How is the selection made? 

There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” or "least developed countries".  Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries. However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.

A definition for developed country could be:   ---
While a developing country could be defined as:

     

 

What are the advantages of “developing country” status? 

 

Developing country status in the WTO brings certain rights. There are for example provisions in some WTO Agreements which provide developing countries with longer transition periods before they are required to fully implement the agreement and developing countries can receive technical assistance.

 

That a WTO member announces itself as a developing country does not automatically mean that it will benefit from the unilateral preference schemes of some of the developed country members such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). In practice, it is the preference giving country which decides the list of developing countries that will benefit from the preferences. For more information about the GSP, see the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Retrived from: https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/dev1_e.htm

 

According to Educational Pathways international,(http://www.educationalpathwaysinternational.org/?page_id=97). There are significant social and economic differences between developed and developing countries. Many of the underlying causes of these differences are rooted in the long history of development of such nations and include social, cultural and economic variables, historical and political elements, international relations, and geographical factors.
According to the UN, a developing country is a country with a relatively low standard of living, undeveloped industrial base, and moderate to low Human Development Index (HDI). This index is a comparative measure of poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors for countries worldwide. The index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, and has been used since 1993 by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report.
The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in two basic dimensions of human development:

• A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.
• Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weight).

Development entails a modern infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and a move away from low value added sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction. Developed countries usually have economic systems based on continuous, self-sustaining economic growth and high standards of living.

 

WTO (World Trade Organization)

About two thirds of the WTO’s memebers (150 countries) are developing countries. They play an increasingly important and active role in the WTO because of their numbers, because they are becoming more important in the global economy, and because they increasingly look to trade as a vital tool in their development efforts.

Developing countries are a highly diverse group often with very different views and concerns. The WTO deals with the special needs of developing countries in three ways:

   the WTO agreements contain special provisions on developing countries

   the Committee on Trade and Development is the main body focusing on work in this area in the WTO, with some others dealing with specific topics such as trade and debt, and technology transfer

   the WTO Secretariat, provides technical assistance (mainly training of various kinds) for developing countries

 

Retrived from: https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/dev1_e.htm

 

 

For statistics and information about developing and developed countries, http://unctadstat.unctad.org/EN/Infographics.HTML