Extensive research has been done on the relationship between financial development (FD) and growth (with the main focus on economic growth). Theoretical models and most of the conclusions reached stipulate that the development of a financial system is one of the essential ingredients for economic growth. A developed financial system is able to provide financial services efficiently to the real sector. This study examines the relationship between FD and manufacturing sector growth of the SACU countries. The study first reviews the theoretical and empirical literature of FD and growth (economic and manufacturing sector). This gives a full understanding of the topic before attempting to empirically study it. It also helps in the selection process of the model and variables to be employed in the study. A balanced panel for four SACU countries, namely Botswana, Lesotho, RSA and Swaziland, for the period 1976 to 2008 was estimated using Zellner‟s Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation (SURE) method. Namibia was omitted because of limited data. The SURE model was selected because it performs better than ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation of individual equations in cases where the countries studied can be affected by similar external shocks because they are in the same economic region and also have country specific structural differences which could affect their economic growth. Two measures of FD were used: credit to the private sector provided by commercial banks (FIC) and the ratio of liquid liabilities of commercial banks to GDP (LL). Manufacturing sector growth was measured by manufacturing value added to GDP. The results of the relationship between manufacturing growth and FD were very weak across the countries. The model that used FIC performed better, there was a negative significant relationship found in RSA and Swaziland, while with the model that used LL, all the countries gave an insignificant relationship. The results for Swaziland were very consistent with the past findings of the relationship between FD and economic growth in the country (for example Aziakpono (2005a)). This may be because of the high share of the manufacturing sector in GDP. Theory suggests that a well-developed financial system will have a positive impact on growth, but this was not the case in RSA and Botswana, where in some cases FD had a negative impact on the growth of the sector. The analysis of the countries‟ manufacturing sector development shows that the sector plays an important role in the economies of the SACU countries, especially in terms of employment and exports. The coefficients of trade openness are generally positive, though not significant in some cases. The other control variables gave mixed results across the counties and across the models. Based on the findings, the countries have to develop strategies that will improve entrepreneurial skills. Also the financial development in the small SACU countries is essential in order for all the sectors in the economy to benefit from the financial sector and in turn increase economic growth.

Considering the obstacles to the conclusion of the Doha Round of international trade negotiations, bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) are the new trend emerging in international relations. Hence, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and China intend to negotiate such an agreement in order to promote trade and investment between their markets. However, SACU is an organisation with a colonial legacy that continues to debilitate the economies of its weaker member states. Discrepancies in its administration and operation threaten the integrity of the customs union, especially when third parties are involved. This study assesses the politics of trade in the Southern African Customs Union, and the prospect of a FTA with the People’s Republic of China. It explores the quantity and quality of trade between the parties, as well as the role of the state in encouraging economic diplomacy. The dissertation draws on the experiences of other developing countries that have signed FTAs with stronger economies, in order to provide policy recommendations that will steer sustainable trade relations between SACU and China that will be aligned to SACU’s development agenda. The study concludes that a FTA will stimulate a restructuring of SACU’s trade partners, without creating a significant increase in production or employment. Furthermore, the cost competitiveness of Chinese imports will cripple the respective SACU industries, cause unemployment and negate prospects of new industrialisation in certain sectors of the economy. SACU’s strategy for trade liberalisation should be incremental and sector specific. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

This thesis presents an analysis of trends in world and foreign trade of Kazakhstan. It contains the main indicators characterizing the degree of product and geographic diversification of Kazakhstan's exports and imports. The thesis analyses the features, character and prospects of expansion of foreign economic relations of Kazakhstan, issues of strategic partnership, and trends shaping the model of the regional economy within the boundaries of the Eurasian Economic Space.

Magister Legum - LLM / The East African Commu1nity (EAC) was re-established on 30 November 1999 by the Republics of Kenya and Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania1 signing the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (the Treaty). The Treaty came into force on 7 July 2000.2 The Republics of Burundi and Rwanda acceded to the Treaty on 18 June 2007 and became full members of the EAC with effect from 1 July 2007.3 The EAC was formed with the major aim of widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in political, economic, social and cultural fields4 that would lead to equitable economic development in the region.

Base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS) explain the process when multinational enterprises take advantage of the gaps, mismatches or loopholes in the international tax regulations for artificially shifting profits to lower tax jurisdictions or no tax jurisdictions. Tax avoidance strategies were legal in most cases and overlooked until the OECD G20 BEPS project was done in 2013. Multinational companies were exploiting tax outdated taxation rules and uncoordinated with the other nations. BEPS is not exactly beneficial for all parties. Governments, citizens and businesses all bear the brunt of it. The government loses required tax revenue from the largest corporations in the world, approximately 4-10% of the global corporate tax revenues which could be allocated to infrastructure, health care facilities, education, pensions etc. The population loses out by paying higher taxes for services which could be funded through the corporates or going about without those services. Domestic or home-grown businesses find it challenging to compete with multinationals that could lower their tax by shifting profits offshore. Profit shifting behaviour of multinational enterprises is no new phenomenon.    Around 135 jurisdictions working together at present in the inclusive framework on BEPS. Additional to implementation of the minimum BEPS standards, they are tackling income tax challenges emanating from the digital economy to ensure that not just digitally operating businesses, but all pay a fair share of tax returns[1].    On the tax administrations’ perspective, the goal is to minimize the cost of goods sold for imported goods and thus the import prices, resulting in higher taxable profits, as direct tax income is directly related to taxable basis, which is naturally influenced by costs incurred with imported goods. Consequently, the taxation department’s interest would be to verify whether the value declared by a resident should be decreased in order to limit the tax-deductible amount. For the purposes of custom requirements, the transfer price has an explicit and outright impact on the determination of the value of the imported goods, which constitute as the base on which duties are charged. A lower transaction value means lower revenue collections. Therefore, an official working with the customs office would require himself to verify whether the value declared by an importer should be increased in order to collect more duties[2]. This discrepancy needs to be studied and eliminated for them to arrive at a consensus.  Research Question: What is the relationship between the transfer pricing guidelines and EU Custom laws and how can their discrepancies be reduced?   [1] OECD (2013) https://www.oecd.org/about/impact/ending-offshore-profit-shifting.html  [2] Duarte Nuno Tenreiro Freitas dos Reis: The tension between Transfer Pricing and Customs Valuation, Mestrado Em Contabilidade, Fiscalidade E Finanças Empresariais (2012).

O presente trabalho analisa as manifestações brasileiras nas Conferências Pan-Americanas, entre 1889 e 1928. Busca-se compreender os discursos identitários construídos pelos países representados nas Conferências, bem como quais foram os argumentos que definiram as proximidades e os distanciamentos entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos e entre o Brasil e os demais países latino-americanos, especialmente os países do Cone Sul. Procura-se entender, ainda, os debates em torno da proposta de união aduaneira e as discussões sobre a questão da arbitragem. / The current work analyzes the Brazilian manifestations at the Pan-American Conferences, between the years of 1889 and 1928. The main goal is to understand the identitary adresses built by the countries that were represented at the Conferences, as well as to define what were the arguments that explained the proximities and distances between Brazil and United States, and Brazil and the other Latin-American countries. It is also a goal to understand the debates about the customs union, as well as the discussions on the arbitrament issues.

Šiais, spartaus ekonomikos augimo laikais, vis svarbesnis tampa tarptautinės prekybos klausimas. Šiandien, nei viena valstybė negali pasiekti ekonominio augimo, jeigu aktyviai nesireiškia ir nedalyvauja tarptautinėje prekyboje. Siekdamos kuo geriau įsitvirtinti pasaulinėse rinkose, šalys vis labiau pasineria į užsienio prekybos politikos procesus, kas lemia spartų prekybos sąlygų keitimąsi. O šis prekybinių sąlygų pasikeitimas sąlygoja šalių būrimąsi į bendras sąjungas. Ne išimtis ir neseniai pradėjusi veikti Rusijos, Baltarusijos bei Kazachstano (toliau RBK) muitų sąjunga. Darbe daug dėmesio skiriama šios muitų sąjungos kūrimosi bei funkcionavimo procesų nagrinėjimui. Šio darbo tikslas ir yra išanalizuoti RBK muitų sąjungos kūrimąsi ir funkcionavimą bei poveikį tarptautinei prekybai ir muitinės priežiūrai. Magistriniame darbe buvo atlikta ES bei RBK muitų sąjungų lyginamoji analizė, aptarti jų panašumai ir skirtumai. Darbe taip pat vertinama RBK muitų sąjungos įtaka Lietuvos tarptautinei prekybai su Rusija ir Baltarusija, prekių srautams bei muitinės formalumams. Darbe panaudoti keturi metodai: teorinis, analizės, empirinis bei apibendrinimo metodai. Remiantis jais, pirmoje darbo dalyje yra pateikiama tarptautinės prekybos samprata ir jos reguliavimo priemonės, taip pat nagrinėjama muitų sąjungos samprata ir jos formavimo pagrindai. Antroje dalyje aptariamos RBK muitų sąjungos ištakos, funkcionavimas ir plėtra, nagrinėjami ES ir RBK muitų sąjungų panašumai ir skirtumai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The rapid growth of countries economy and politics, becomes an increasingly important issue for international trade. Nowadays, there are no countries that can achieve economic growth while not participating an being active in an international trade. In order to get better positions in global markets they become increasingly immersed in to the foreign trade policy processes. The rapid change in terms of trade causes the unionize of countries into different kinds of unions. RBK customs union it is not an exception. So, this work mostly focuses on the examination of this customs unions creation and functioning. The aim of this study is to analyze RBK customs unions functioning and influence on international trade and customs procedures. The comparative analyses of customs union was carried out in this work. It also evaluated the influence of RBK customs union to the Lithuanian international trade and customs procedures. Four methods were used, in order to examine and analyze this. That is: theoretical, analytical, empirical and concluding methods. According to these methods the first part of the work studies the theoretical aspect of modern international trade regulations, presents the formation of customs union and discusses Lithuania integration into the EU. The second part deals with the origin and establishment of RBK customs union, evaluates its functioning and development, analyses similarities and differences between EU and RBK customs unions. The third part discusses... [to full text]

The introduction and signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (hereafter EPA’s) have been received with mixed feelings legally, politically and economically. African Caribbean and Pacific countries have taken different positions with regards to their signing, ratification and implementation. A lot has been written about the legal effect of EPA’ The Southern Africa Customs Union (hereafter SACU) has not been spared either. SACU is made up of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. Article 31 (3) of the 2002 SACU Agreement prohibits any of the SACU member states to negotiate and enter into new preferential agreements with third parties or amend existing agreements without the consent of other member states. Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland signed Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union in direct violation of article 31 (3) of the 2002 SACU Agreement. The actions of these three countries have exposed the vulnerabilities and short-comings of the 2002 Agreement. The key findings of this study are that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland have violated the 2002 Agreement. Namibia and South Africa have openly castigated the actions of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. SACU institutions that are mandated to monitor and implement the 2002 Agreement such as the Council of Ministers, Customs Union Commission, Secretariat, Tariff Board, Technical Liaison Committees and ad hoc Tribunal appear to have not taken sufficient action to penalise the actions of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. This has led some critics to argue that the SACU 2002 Agreement has to be reviewed or suspended or that it has lost its legal force. / Thesis (LLM (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The introduction and signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (hereafter EPA’s) have been received with mixed feelings legally, politically and economically. African Caribbean and Pacific countries have taken different positions with regards to their signing, ratification and implementation. A lot has been written about the legal effect of EPA’ The Southern Africa Customs Union (hereafter SACU) has not been spared either. SACU is made up of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. Article 31 (3) of the 2002 SACU Agreement prohibits any of the SACU member states to negotiate and enter into new preferential agreements with third parties or amend existing agreements without the consent of other member states. Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland signed Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union in direct violation of article 31 (3) of the 2002 SACU Agreement. The actions of these three countries have exposed the vulnerabilities and short-comings of the 2002 Agreement. The key findings of this study are that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland have violated the 2002 Agreement. Namibia and South Africa have openly castigated the actions of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. SACU institutions that are mandated to monitor and implement the 2002 Agreement such as the Council of Ministers, Customs Union Commission, Secretariat, Tariff Board, Technical Liaison Committees and ad hoc Tribunal appear to have not taken sufficient action to penalise the actions of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. This has led some critics to argue that the SACU 2002 Agreement has to be reviewed or suspended or that it has lost its legal force. / Thesis (LLM (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

O presente trabalho analisa as manifestações brasileiras nas Conferências Pan-Americanas, entre 1889 e 1928. Busca-se compreender os discursos identitários construídos pelos países representados nas Conferências, bem como quais foram os argumentos que definiram as proximidades e os distanciamentos entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos e entre o Brasil e os demais países latino-americanos, especialmente os países do Cone Sul. Procura-se entender, ainda, os debates em torno da proposta de união aduaneira e as discussões sobre a questão da arbitragem. / The current work analyzes the Brazilian manifestations at the Pan-American Conferences, between the years of 1889 and 1928. The main goal is to understand the identitary adresses built by the countries that were represented at the Conferences, as well as to define what were the arguments that explained the proximities and distances between Brazil and United States, and Brazil and the other Latin-American countries. It is also a goal to understand the debates about the customs union, as well as the discussions on the arbitrament issues.