{
"authors": [
"Peter Eigen"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "",
"programs": [],
"projects": [],
"regions": [],
"topics": [
"Economy",
"Trade"
]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE
The economic and social costs of corruption-induced market distortions are widely recognized. WTO members must make a commitment to fight cross-border corruption while building trust and collaboration between industrial and developing countries to achieve broader WTO institutional reform.
The economic and social costs of corruption-induced market distortions are widely recognized. In response, civil society groups, governments, and international institutions all are taking steps to put a stop to corruption's corrosive effects on development. As a necessary complement to these emerging anticorruption initiatives, the WTO must now join this effort and devise trade-focused mechanisms to prevent corruption. A key opportunity in this regard is the potential WTO agreement on transparency in government procurement. Resistance to its inclusion as part of the WTO Doha Ministerial was strongest from developing nations-precisely those countries that could realize the greatest benefits from anticorruption reform. Beyond this stalemate, WTO members must make a commitment to fight cross-border corruption while building trust and collaboration between industrial and developing countries to achieve broader WTO institutional reform.
Click on links above for full text of this TED Policy Brief in English and Spanish.
A limited number of print copies are available.
Request a copy.
About the Author
Peter Eigen is the founder and chairman of Transparency International, the leading nonprofit organization engaged in the fight against corruption. In 2001 he became a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment and a professorial lecturer at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of John Hopkins University.
The Trade, Equity, and Development (TED) Series is part of an effort by Carnegie's Trade, Equity, and Development Project to broaden the debate surrounding trade liberalization to include perspectives not normally present in the Washington policy community.
Also in the TED series:
Environment's New Role in U.S. Trade Policy, John Audley
Reforming Global Trade in Agriculture: A Developing-Country Perspective, Shishir Priyadarshi
Doha: Is It Really a Development Round?, Kamal Malhotra
Former Visiting Scholar
On March 10, 2026, India’s Union Cabinet approved amendments to Press Note 3, a regulation that mandated government approval on all foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with India. This amendment raises questions primarily about whether its stated benefits will materialize and if the risks have been adequately weighed. This piece will address the same.
Konark Bhandari
This piece examines India’s response to U.S. sanctions and tariffs, specifically assessing the immediate market consequences, such as alterations in import costs, and the broader strategic implications for India’s energy security and foreign policy orientation.
Vrinda Sahai
This paper examines the evolution of India-China economic ties from 2005 to 2025. It explores the impact of global events, bilateral political ties, and domestic policies on distinct spheres of the economic relationship.
Santosh Pai
The India-U.S. relationship currently appears buffeted between three “Ts”—TRUST, Tariffs, and Trump.
Arun K. Singh
This article argues that the geopolitical circumstances have never been more conducive, not merely for the early conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU, but also for crafting a substantive and comprehensive strategic partnership.
Mohan Kumar