Bringing Fairness to Free Trade

In the modern global economy the greatest challenge developing countries face is to create fair opportunities for their people to access the benefits that globalization brings. As nations struggle to define fairness, GFI has led the way to broaden inclusion in the free trade process by extending economic opportunity to traditionally-excluded workforce stakeholders including women, the marginalized poor and informal sector workers. Engaging governments and large private interest holders GFI help worker communities tap into the opportunities created in a free trade environment.

Modern, risk adverse markets are attracted to stability and counties that represent “best practices” of workforce standards and government commitment to social services and economic development become “darlings” of the globalized economy. Unfortunately, many limiting factors are prevalent in developing economies that seek to uphold high standards and compete in the global economy. In order to eliminate these barriers free trade must be closely aligned with both social services and capacity building investments to help developing countries meet the standard that foreign investors require. Further, foreign government assistance and multi-lateral investments must address core capacity issues and seek to align trade program with aid and capacity building initiatives so that developing economies can meet the goals and reap the rewards that trade agreements bring. To help achieve this goal, GFI’s works with developing countries to attract meaningful and secure foreign investment by helping establishing high standard of social services, protections and environmentally sustainable practices. To ensure that these standards can be met and enforced, programs are designed around a multi-stakeholder process that seeks to build core capacity within government, the private sector and civil society.