Easing tensions and rebuilding trust essential in 'slowbalization' era
Pascal Lamy, former director-general of the World Trade Organization, shares his views on "What's Next for Globalization."
Easing tensions and rebuilding trust is essential in the era of "slowbalization," according to Pascal Lamy, former director-general of the World Trade Organization .
After nearly a century of rapid globalization, successive international shocks and challenges to world stability have called the progress of this trend into question. In the eyes of Lamy, technology, ideology and peace are globalization's major shaping factors.
"In the past, these three drivers moved toward the same direction, which largely facilitated global trade and economic development. But now, some of these 'winds' are blowing in different directions due to the rise of geopolitical conflict, more fragmented ideological differences about the benefits of openness, and the risks of fragmentation in the digital age," he said.
He said that it didn't necessarily mean that we would enter an era of de-globalizations, but that the pace of globalization would likely slow down, or slowbalization.
When it comes to how to cope with today's challenges, he said, "we should try to ease geopolitical tensions and rebuild trust through high-level dialogue leading to progressive confidence measures in Sino-US relations."
Although China-EU relations still face significant headwinds due to political and economic factors, he pointed out that two of the world's major economic powers are aligned in addressing global warming and clean energy with their complementary capacities.
"China and Europe have a lot in common in terms of dealing with the environment, which is a very good starting point. We can help build a more coherent environmental governance system where China draws lessons from the EU's regulatory experience, including in carbon pricing, and the EU learns about the successes of China in rapidly developing its impressive green tech capacities."
Lamy shared his views at a "What's Next for Globalization" talk held recently at the Shanghai campus of the China Europe International Business School as the distinguished professor of the school.
