COLLEGE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

AND ACCOUNTING SULTAN HAJI AHMAD CAMPUS

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HONS) IN HUMAN
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
SEMESTER 2, 2021/2022
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
MMLB 133
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
(TOPIC 9: REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION)
SECTION:1M
PREPARED BY:
STUDENT’S NAME:
HASVIN KAUR A/P RANJIT SINGH
ID NUMBER:
HR01080901
PREPARED FOR: MADAM ZULIAWATI BINTI MOHAMED SAAD
DATE OF SUBMISSION:1st APRIL 2022
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION TO WORLD BANK ............................................................................................. 2
AF (Additional Financing)- Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Climate
Change In Uruguay........................................................................................................................... 3
Uruguay COVID-19 Emergency Response Project ....................................................................... 4
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE.............................................................................. 7
IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND KEY DECISIONS ........................................................ 8
WHAT IS WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION .............................................................................. 8
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization .............................................................. 8
URUGUAY’S CONTENT OF AGREEMENT WITH WTO ........................................................... 9
Agricultural Trade ............................................................................................................................ 9
Uruguay Round Agricultural Negotiations .................................................................................... 9
Introduction to the Agreement on Agriculture ................................................................................ 10
Product Coverage............................................................................................................................ 10
Rules and Commitments ................................................................................................................ 10
HOW URUGUAY BECOME MEMBER OF WTO........................................................................ 11
Key elements of the Agreement on Agriculture and related commitments ............................... 11
BENEFITS WTO TOWARDS URUGUAY ..................................................................................... 13
Uruguay's trade ties help promote economic performance - efforts to develop new products
and markets should continue ......................................................................................................... 13
REFERENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 16
INTRODUCTION TO WORLD BANK

The World Bank or World Bank Group is an international organization with The United
Nations (UN), which funds initiatives to support the economic development of member
countries. In fact, the bank is a huge source of financial assistance to developing countries
Provide technical assistance and policy advice on behalf of international creditors and oversee
the implementation of free market reforms. it cooperates with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Trade Organization to monitor economic policy and reform public
institutions in developing countries and specify the global macroeconomic agenda. The World
Bank was established in 1944 in the United Nations Department of Monetary and Financial
Affairs The conference that established the new post-war era (commonly known as the Bretton
Woods Conference) Second, the international economic system. It officially started operations
in June 1946. His first loan was the aim was to rebuild Western Europe after the war. It has
played an important role since the mid-1950s role in financing investments in infrastructure
projects (such as roads) in developing countries, Hydroelectric power plants, water and sewage
treatment plants, seaports, and airports. The World Bank Group consists of five institutions:
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides loans to
creditworthy middle-income developing countries Market prices in low-income countries,
International Development Association (IDA). Provides low-income developing countries with
interest-free long-term loans, technical advice and Policy advice, health, International Finance
Corporation (IFC) in partnership with private Investors through loan guarantees and equity
financing to companies, multilateral institutions The Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
provides loan guarantees and insurance for foreigners Investors dealing with losses from non-
commercial risks in developing countries and the International Centre for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID) Investment disputes between foreign investors and their recipient
developing countries Arbitration or Arbitration. From 1968 to 1981, former US Secretary of
Defence Robert S. McNamara served as President of the World Bank. Under his leadership,
the bank formulated the concept of "sustainable development," which attempted to reconcile
economic growth and environmental protection in developing countries. Another aspect of the
concept was the use of capital flows (in the form of development aid and foreign investment)
to developing countries to close the income gap between rich and poor countries. The Bank has
increased its lending and, with its numerous research and policy divisions, has grown into a
powerful and authoritative intergovernmental body.

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The World Bank is affiliated with the United Nations, but it is not accountable to the General
Assembly or the Security Council. The Board of Governors, which meets once a year, is made
up of representatives from all the Bank's more than 180 member countries. Governors are
typically finance ministers or governors of their respective central banks. Although the Board
of Governors has some influence over IBRD policy, the bank's 25 CEOs have most of the real
decision-making power. Five major countries appoint their own CEOs: the United States,
Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. The remaining countries are divided into
regions, each of which chooses an Executive Director. Throughout the World Bank's history,
the President of the Bank, the bank's President, who also serves as Chairman of the Executive
Board, is a US citizen. The Bank's funds are raised through capital subscriptions from member
countries, bond issuances on global capital markets, and accumulated net income from IBRD
and IFC loan interest payments. A tenth of the subscribed capital is paid directly to the bank,
with the remainder available for use in meeting obligations. The World Bank employs over
10,000 people, roughly a quarter of whom work in developing countries. The Bank has over
100 offices in member countries, and staff members in many of them serve directly as policy
advisers to the Treasury and other ministries. The Bank maintains both formal and informal
relationships with financial markets and institutions around the world.

AF (Additional Financing)- Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Climate

Change In Uruguay

The Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Climate Change Project for Uruguay's
development goal is to assist Uruguay in promoting farmer adoption of improved
environmentally sustainable agricultural and livestock practises that are climate smart. The
additional financing (AF) will aid in the following areas: alignment with country and bank
agendas and priorities; scaling-up the development effectiveness of the sustainable
management of natural resources and climate change project; piloting new technologies and
presenting innovations in climate-smart practises; and consolidating and scaling-up the current
activities, operational approach, and procedures to ensure continuity in the ongoing project.
The AF proposes to expand current investments to improve the resilience of family farming,
such as small-scale irrigation and management, to increase the development impact of the
original loan and animal waste in the country's watersheds, as well as by incorporating new
activities like grazing area improvement. The AF (additional financing) will build on initiatives
that have been shown to effectively promote farmer adoption of enhanced ecologically

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sustainable and climate-smart agriculture and livestock practises that were carried out under
the first loan.
In this project it separated into 4 sectors which are 35% of crops, 30% of livestock, 25% of
public administration agriculture, fishing, and forestry and 10% of irrigation and drainage
which develops Uruguay’s project and become more competitive in market. Themes for this
project development is environment and natural resource management which is 41% for
renewable natural resources asset management, 41% for landscape management, 98% for
climate change, 57% for adaptation and 42% for mitigation. Second is urban and rural
development which is 88% for rural development, 29% for geospatial services and 72% for
rural infrastructure and service delivery. Thirdly is finance which is 72% for finance for
development and 72% for agriculture finance. Lastly is private sector development which is
25% ICT (information and communication technology) and 25% ICT solutions. There is no
data regarding total project financing under product line but under lending instrument the grant
amount Uruguay government received was $47.20 million for the project.

Uruguay COVID-19 Emergency Response Project

The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Emergency Response Project for Uruguay aims to prevent,
identify, and respond to the COVID-19 danger, as well as build national public health
preparation systems. There are two parts to the project. 1. The COVID-19 Emergency
Response component comprises two subcomponents. Through the expansion of testing, the 1.1
Case Detection, Confirmation, Contact Tracing, Recording, and Reporting sub-component will
assist the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) in developing its disease surveillance strategy for
early detection and confirmation of COVID-19 cases among NHI beneficiaries. Increased
COVID-19 testing in the covered population will: I allow for the identification of positive
patients; (ii) enable active contact tracing of new cases; and (iii) provide data to help
epidemiological investigations. (iv) provide up-to-date data to guide decision-making and
response and mitigation activities (including by including additional risks posed to the
population, such as those related to climate change impacts, in the assessment itself); and (v)
provide up-to-date data to guide decision-making and response and mitigation activities (also
taking a comprehensive approach and including other relevant data and wider mitigation
activities, including those related to climate change, where applicable). Testing NHI-covered
health care workers will protect them and minimise the spread of disease through early
detection. The subcomponent will fund the Project Coordination Unit's (PCU) unit cost of

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COVID-19 Testing outputs, which include all administrative, assistance, and professional
services, as well as medical supplies and equipment, that are required to test an individual for
COVID-19, using available and approved technologies for testing NHI beneficiaries by Health
Service Providers (HSPs). 1.2. The subcomponent for Health System Strengthening will fund
assistance to the health-care system to provide.
The creation of the Honorary Scientific Advisory Group (GACH in Spanish), with the
contributions of internationally renowned scientists, prioritized the role of science in the
response, providing advice to the government in the transition to the “new normal”. The group
postulated its work considering four main axes, as presented in the following figure, and based
its work on two poles: a scientific health team and another scientific model and data science
team.
In January 2020, the first response measures were implemented in Uruguay, particularly border
surveillance, contingency planning in the health system, and training of the Public Health
Laboratory Department (DLSP in Spanish).Upon assuming the new authorities of the MSP
(Ministry of Public Health), all health providers, academia, MSP officials and international
organizations were summoned for a technical meeting to adjust the Contingency Plan, which
included the risk assessment for the country, the possible epidemiological scenarios in the event
of outbreaks, the response actions for each of the three defined levels: level of alert and
preparedness; level of imminent risk of spread; level of multisectoral coordinated response.
In this project it segregated into 2 sectors which consists of 74% of health and 26% of health
facilities and construction. The theme for this project environment and natural resource
management which only contains 8% of climate change and 8% of adaption. The climate
change percentage (climate finance) shown under the Environment and Natural Resource
Management Theme refers to the original amount of IBRD/IDA financing that was committed
at Board approval stage. The World Bank estimates climate finance ex-ante, using the Joint
Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) methodologies for tracking climate finance in climate
change adaptation and mitigation. Secondly is human development and gender which is 100%
of health systems and policies, 49% of health service delivery, 51% of health finance, 100% of
health system strengthening, 100% of disease control and 100% of pandemic response.

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This picture shows the summary status of world bank financing towards the emergency respond
project
The World Bank approved today an emergency loan for US$20 million to support the
Uruguayan Government’s efforts to minimize impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-
19) on the health system. The funding will help improve testing capacity, early detection and
treatment of positive cases of COVID-19 and contribute to the procurement of medical supplies
and equipment for frontline public health workers.
The project is in line with the Uruguayan comprehensive strategy for preparedness and
response to COVID-19. It will support activities relative to timely diagnosis and care of
COVID-19 patients to minimize disease spread. It will also support the National Integrated
Health System to respond in the event of increasing levels of demand. The procurement of
medical supplies and equipment for the protection of public health workers is also being
addressed.
The World Bank activated up to US$160 billion for immediate support to countries that are
addressing pandemic-related sanitary and economic impacts. The COVID-19 Urgent Response
Project is financed with a variable-spread loan with an 11-year maturity period and a 4-year
grace period.

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According to bank documents, the project aims to strengthen the detection and response
capacity of the Uruguayan National Health Integrated System to the threat posed by COVID-
19. The picture above shows the Proportion of health providers within the National Health
Insurance that report the utilization of inpatient care services with patient level information
through the electronic medical records

The map shown where the emergency respond project took place

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

To strengthen the detection and response capacity of the Uruguayan National Health Integrated
System to the threat posed by COVID-19

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IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND KEY DECISIONS

The Uruguay COVID-19 Emergency Response Project was approved by the WB on May 15,
2020, with the objective of strengthening the detection and response capacity of the Uruguayan
National Health Integrated System to the threat posed by COVID-19. This Project is part of a
World Bank Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach to support countries affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic. The Loan Agreement was signed on August 5, 2020 and declared
effective on August 10, 2020. Project implementation is underway.

WHAT IS WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

The WTO (World Trade Organization) is an international organization. It enacts the rules
governing trade between countries of goods, services, agricultural and industrial goods, and
intellectual property.
The WTO is essentially an alternative dispute or mediation entity that upholds the international
rules of trade among nations. The organization provides a platform that allows member
governments to negotiate and resolve trade issues with other members. The WTO’s focus is to
provide open lines of communication concerning trade among its members. For example, the
WTO has lowered trade barriers and increased trade among member countries. On the other
hand, it has also maintained trade barriers when it makes sense to do so in the global context.
Therefore, the WTO attempts to provide negotiation mediation that benefits the global
economy. Once negotiations are complete and an agreement is in place, the WTO then offers
to interpret that agreement in case of a future dispute. All WTO agreements include a settlement
process, whereby the organization legally conducts neutral conflict resolution.
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization

The agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) calls for a single
institutional framework encompassing the GATT, as modified by the Uruguay Round, all
agreements and arrangements concluded under its auspices and the complete results of the
Uruguay Round. Its structure is headed by a Ministerial Conference meeting at least once every
two years. A General Council oversees the operation of the agreement and ministerial decisions
on a regular basis. This General Council acts as a Dispute Settlement Body and a Trade Policy
Review Mechanism, which concern themselves with the full range of trade issues covered by
the WTO and has also established subsidiary bodies such as a Goods Council, a Services
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Council, and a TRIPs Council. The WTO framework ensures a “single undertaking approach”
to the results of the Uruguay Round — thus, membership in the WTO entails accepting all the
results of the Round without exception.

URUGUAY’S CONTENT OF AGREEMENT WITH WTO

Agricultural Trade

While the volume of world agricultural exports has substantially increased over recent decades,
its rate of growth has lagged that of manufactures, resulting in a steady decline in agriculture’s
share in world merchandise trade. In 1998, agricultural trade accounted for 10.5 per cent of
total merchandise trade — when trade in services is considered, agriculture’s share in global
exports drops to 8.5 per cent. However, with respect to world trade agriculture is still ahead of
sectors such as mining products, automotive products, chemicals, textiles and clothing or iron
and steel. Among the agricultural goods traded internationally, food products make up almost
80 per cent of the total. The other main category of agricultural products is raw materials. Since
the mid-1980s, trade in processed and other high value agricultural products has been
expanding much faster than trade in the basic primary products such as cereals.
Agricultural trade remains in many countries an important part of overall economic activity
and continues to play a major role in domestic agricultural production and employment. The
trading system plays also a fundamentally important role in global food security, for example
by ensuring that temporary or protracted food deficits arising from adverse climatic and other
conditions can be met from world markets.
Uruguay Round Agricultural Negotiations

In the lead-up to the Uruguay Round negotiations, it became increasingly evident that the
causes of disarray in world agriculture went beyond import access problems which had been
the traditional focus of GATT negotiations. To get to the roots of the problems, disciplines
regarding all measures affecting trade in agriculture, including domestic agricultural policies
and the subsidization of agricultural exports, were essential. Clearer rules for sanitary and
phytosanitary measures were also considered to be required, both and to prevent circumvention
of stricter rules on import access through unjustified, protectionist use of food safety as well as
animal and plant health measures.

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The agricultural negotiations in the Uruguay Round were by no means easy — the broad scope
of the negotiations and their political sensitivity necessarily required much time to reach an
agreement on the new rules, and much technical work was required to establish sound means
to formalise commitments in policy areas beyond the scope of prior GATT practice. The
Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures were negotiated in parallel, and a Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible
Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-developed and Net Food-importing
Developing Countries also formed part of the overall outcome.

Introduction to the Agreement on Agriculture

The Agreement on Agriculture, (the “Agreement”), came into force on 1 January 1995. The
preamble to the Agreement recognizes that the agreed long-term objective of the reform
process initiated by the Uruguay Round reform programme is to establish a fair and market-
oriented agricultural trading system. The reform programme comprises specific commitments
to reduce support and protection in the areas of domestic support, export subsidies and market
access, and through the establishment of strengthened and more operationally effective GATT
rules and disciplines. The Agreement also considers non-trade concerns, including food
security and the need to protect the environment, and provides special and differential treatment
for developing countries, including an improvement in the opportunities and terms of access
for agricultural products of export interest to these Members.
Product Coverage

The Agreement defines in its Annex 1 agricultural products by reference to the harmonised
system of product classification — the definition covers not only basic agricultural products
such as wheat, milk, and live animals, but the products derived from them such as bread, butter,
and meat, as well as all processed agricultural products such as chocolate and sausages. The
coverage also includes wines, spirits and tobacco products, fibres such as cotton, wool and silk,
and raw animal skins destined for leather production. Fish and fish products are not included,
nor are forestry products.
Rules and Commitments

The Agreement on Agriculture establishes several generally applicable rules about trade-
related agricultural measures, primarily in the areas of market access, domestic support, and
export competition. These rules relate to country-specific commitments to improve market
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access and reduce trade-distorting subsidies which are contained in the individual country
schedules of the WTO Members and constitute an integral part of the GATT.

HOW URUGUAY BECOME MEMBER OF WTO

Uruguay is a founding Member of the WTO and an active participant in the multilateral trading
system. During the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, Uruguay produced many
proposals, both individually and with other Members. As a primarily agricultural country,
Uruguay has proposed that agriculture be fully integrated into the multilateral trade rules and
that domestic support and export subsidies be abolished. Since its last review in 2006, Uruguay
has not had recourse to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, nor has it participated in any
new disputes as respondent or third party. Uruguay's trade regime is open, with little in the
way of non-tariff barriers to trade. As a small and open economy, Uruguay considers that the
priority objective of its economic and trade policies is to continue opening to the world even
further through regional integration, in conformity with multilateral trade rules. Uruguay has
repeatedly expressed its keen interest in strengthening the multilateral trading system. It
considers that the growth and development of a small country is inevitably linked to the
expansion, diversification, and modernization of its external sector.

Key elements of the Agreement on Agriculture and related commitments

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BENEFITS WTO TOWARDS URUGUAY

Uruguay's trade ties help promote economic performance - efforts to develop new
products and markets should continue

Uruguay's participation in MERCOSUR has helped to promote significant restructuring and

modernization of its economy, but as its economic performance is increasingly linked to that
of its neighbours, a slowdown in the region could easily have spill over effects in Uruguay. A
new WTO report states that Uruguay needs to continue efforts to diversify its trading structure,
to develop new products and services, and to find new export markets.
The WTO's report on Uruguay's trade policies and practices notes that since its first review in
1992, Uruguay's trade has significantly shifted towards MERCOSUR (Mercado Comun del
Sur). The report explains that this shift results mainly from liberalization efforts within
MERCOSUR but also from the real appreciation of the Uruguayan peso, which undermined
Uruguay's competitiveness, particularly in relation to third markets.
The new WTO report on Uruguay and the policy statement prepared by the Government of
Uruguay will provide the basis for a review of Uruguay's trade policies and practices on 23 and
25 November 1998.
Uruguay has deepened its trade policy reforms through multilateral, regional and bilateral trade
negotiations, and through autonomous measures. Since 1992, the Uruguayan economy has
grown at an average of 4.2% with inflation decreasing from 68.4% in 1992 to 15.2% in 1997.
This performance has been achieved through the strengthening of public finances, monetary
discipline, and a reduction in the rate of currency depreciation. These macroeconomic measures
were supported by a series of structural reforms, including trade liberalization, changes in the
social security system, and state reform.
The report points out, however, that the opening of the economy to regional competition has
already meant some difficult adjustments for Uruguay, especially in the import-competing
manufacturing sector. This process is expected to continue as integration is deepened. Since
1992, both imports and exports have increased, especially within MERCOSUR, but imports
have grown more rapidly than exports. This has resulted in a rising current account deficit,
despite Uruguay's growing surplus in services trade.
Uruguay's major trade policy is the tariff, whose structure and level have been determined by
the programme of convergence towards the MERCOSUR Common External Tariff (CET),
which came into effect in 1995. The CET ranges from 0% to 20%. In December 1997,

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MERCOSUR members agreed to increase the CET temporarily (until 31 December 2000), by
a 3 percentage points. As a result, Uruguay has exceeded its WTO bound rates on nine tariff
lines at the 10-digit level. On average, the CET provides for lower nominal protection for inputs
than for final goods, therefore providing higher effective protection for final goods than is
obvious from its nominal rates. Uruguay is expected to maintain its tariff peaks and escalation,
albeit at lower levels, as it converges towards the CET. Full adoption of the CET will also lead
to increased protection for some items.
The report states that fiscal incentives in Uruguay reinforce the effects of its tariff escalation.
These incentives include tax and duty exemptions to selected activities, temporary admission,
duty drawback and free-trade zones. Apart from increasing the potential effective protection -
which itself affects resource allocation and productivity - such incentives have a negative effect
on the Government's fiscal position.
Uruguay has no explicit legislation to regulate competition conditions in its market, and no
competition authority. However, the report notes, Uruguay would need a competition policy as
the liberalization process continues and the role of the private sector increases. Uruguay is
currently updating its legislation on intellectual property to achieve full consistency with the
TRIPS Agreement by year 2000.
Since the last GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) /WTO review, the contribution
of the manufacturing sector to GDP (gross domestic product) has declined, as some industries
have found it difficult to compete in the wider market of MERCOSUR. Tourism has become
the largest single component of exports of goods and services, exceeding the share of traditional
exports of agro-industrial products. Uruguay’s manufacturing production and exports are
largely based on the processing of natural resources. Uruguay has notified its automotive
regime to the WTO as a subsidy and a trade-related investment measure (TRIM). This will be
replaced by a common MERCOSUR automotive regime when negotiations are finalized. The
only items still affected by minimum export prices are textiles and clothing, and sugar. The
report states that, besides diminishing the transparency of the trade regime, this policy has
isolated textiles and clothing from competition from abroad.
There for Uruguay has an investment regime that is generally open to private investment,
including foreign investment. The Investment Law guarantees equal treatment of foreign and
domestic investment. The only restrictions on private investment are in the sectors deemed to
be of national public interest such as fixed telecommunications, water and sanitation, and
specific areas such as insurance and transport. No prior authorization is required for either
domestic or foreign investment. Foreign companies may act through a branch, a subsidiary, or
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a permanent agency, and may own 100 per cent of the share capital. There are no restrictions
on capital inflows or outflows or on the transfer of profits, dividends, or interest. Foreign
investment benefits from the same incentives that are granted to local investors. Uruguay is a
member of various international arbitration mechanisms for the settlement of investment-
related disputes.
Thus, Uruguay has a monetary policy regime whose ultimate objective is price stability. Since
June 2011, the annual inflation target has been within a range of 4 to 6 per cent. Because of the
increase in the world prices of food and energy products, it has been difficult to maintain these
levels. Although inflation slowed down in 2009, it began to grow again in 2010 and 2011, and
in October 2011 the annual increase in the consumer price index reached 7.9 per cent. The
current account deficit of the balance of payments remained reasonable during most of the
period under review (between 0.4 and 2 per cent of GDP) except for 2009, when it reached 5.5
per cent of GDP owing to a sharp increase in imports. The ratio of the external public debt to
GDP decreased considerably during the review period - from close to 69 per cent in 2005 to 45
per cent in 2010 - reflecting the sharp increase in GDP and the appreciation of the peso

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REFERENCE

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm
https://www.wto.org/ /tif_e/fact1e.htm

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