World trade ministers gathered Sunday for their first meeting in five years, with the World Trade Organization chief making a plea for them to show “that multilateralism works.”

COVID-19 forced several postponements of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), which was initially supposed to be held in Kazakhstan in June 2020.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a national of Nigeria and the United States, addressed more than 100 ministers gathered amid tight security in Geneva amid some protests by groups protesting globalization.

At a press conference preceding the opening of MC12, she said, "I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll get to one or two deliverables," after the last meeting in Buenos Aires failed to deliver any.

Okonjo-Iweala said she is the first woman, the first African, and the first American to lead the body that regulates international commerce.

The five main issues on the agenda include an intellectual property waiver for vaccines to facilitate all countries fighting pandemics, reform of the way the WTO functions, ever-tricky talks on agriculture, and extension of an international e-commerce moratorium and a fish subsidies agreement to help halt overfishing.

"Will the road to delivery at this MC12 be smooth? Absolutely not – expect a rocky, bumpy road with a few landmines along the way, but we shall overcome them," said Okonjo-Iweala.

She said there is uncertainty in crises on multiple fronts, including the war in Ukraine, "the inherent international security crisis that comes with it, (and) the health, economic, environmental, and geopolitical crisis."

More than 50 NGOs as proceedings began objected to the WTO restricting their access to the ministerial conference in Geneva, saying they had been informed at the last minute they could not access the organization’s building./aa

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday against gun violence across the US after a series of mass shootings in recent months.

The protests, which call for action on gun control, were organized by the March For Our Lives organization, which was founded by students who survived a mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida in 2018.

In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall area, carrying banners that read "Gun control now," "End gun violence," "Enough is enough," and "Protect kids not guns."

Mayor Muriel Bowser also addressed the crowd that gathered around the Washington Monument, asking for Congress to implement "common sense" gun laws to combat gun violence.

"It is common sense to ban assault rifles in our country," said Bowser.

She was joined by children who carried banners that read "Books not bullets" and "Kids for safe schools."

The nationwide demonstrations were in response to the latest school shooting in Uvalde, Texas and a deadly racist attack in Buffalo, New York.

An 18-year-old gunman entered an elementary school in Uvalde and killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24. Ten days before that shooting, an armed white man raided a supermarket in a Black-majority neighborhood in Buffalo and killed 10 people. Authorities called the Buffalo shooting a "racially motivated, hate crime."

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly urged Congress to pass stricter gun laws to reduce gun violence across the country. The House of Representatives passed this week "Protecting Our Kids Act," aimed at preventing gun violence.

The bill seeks to raise the age for buying automatic rifles from 18 to 21, among other measures.

In addition to the US capital, demonstrations also took place in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and other cities.

At least 255 mass shootings have occurred in the US this year, according to non-profit tracker the Gun Violence Archive./aa

Two protesters were shot dead, while the Indian police have arrested 130 during protests over ruling party member's derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, authorities told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday.

There have been widespread protests in the Muslim world since last week when a spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party commented on the relationship between the prophet and his youngest wife on a TV debate show.

In India and neighboring countries, Muslims took to the streets in huge numbers after Friday prayers to condemn the remarks, with police firing on a crowd in the eastern Indian city of Ranchi.

"Police were forced to open fire to disperse protesters ... resulting in the death of two," a police officer in Ranchi told the AFP.

Officers said that the crowd had defied their orders not to march from a mosque to a market and had thrown broken bottles and stones when police attempted to disperse the rally with a baton charge.

Authorities cut internet connections in the city and imposed a curfew, with resident Shabnam Ara telling AFP the atmosphere remained tense on Saturday.

"We are praying for peace and harmony," she said.

Police in Uttar Pradesh fired tear gas to disperse at least one rally after several demonstrations were staged across the northern Indian state.

Most protests ended peacefully but demonstrators in some cities threw stones at police and injured at least one officer, said Avanish Awasthi, a senior government secretary in the state.

"We will take strict action against those indulging in stone pelting and violence," Awasthi told reporters.

"Those working behind the scenes, instigating violence, will not be spared at all."

Prashant Kumar, a senior police officer in the state, told AFP that up to "136 protesting miscreants" had been arrested from six districts around Uttar Pradesh.

Cities around India saw sizable demonstrations on Friday, with some crowds burning effigies of Nupur Sharma – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson whose comments set off the furor.

Authorities also cut internet services for the weekend in several districts near the eastern megacity of Kolkata, after protesters blocked a railway line and mobbed a police station.

Sharma's remarks have embroiled India in a diplomatic storm, with the governments of nearly 20 countries calling in Indian envoys for an explanation.

Since coming to power nationally in 2014, Modi's government and the BJP have been accused of championing discriminatory policies toward followers of the Islamic faith.

His government proposed a controversial law that granted citizenship to refugees in India, but not if they are Muslim, while BJP state governments have passed laws making it harder for Muslims to marry outside their religion.

The foreign ministry last week rebuked U.S. officials for what India termed "ill-informed" and "biased" comments made during the release of a religious freedom report that accused Indian officials of supporting attacks on minority worshippers.

Sharma's comments sent the BJP into damage control, with the party suspending her from its ranks and issuing a statement saying it respected all religions.

Friday saw the biggest South Asian street rallies yet in response to the remarks, with police estimating more than 100,000 people mobilized across Bangladesh after midday prayers.

Another 5,000 people took to the streets in the Pakistani city of Lahore at the call of a radical religious party, demanding that their government take stronger action against India over the comments.

The row follows anger across the Muslim world in 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of a satirical magazine to publish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in October 2020 by a Chechen refugee after showing the cartoons to his class in a lesson on free speech. Portraits of the prophet are strictly forbidden in Sunni Islam./AFP

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey soared 79% year-over-year in 2021, a report by United Nations’ trade and development agency UNCTAD showed Thursday, as inflows rebounded around the world to pre-pandemic levels.

Coming off a low base in 2020, global FDI flows rose 64% to $1.58 trillion last year, UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2022 said, driven by a booming merger and acquisition activity and rapid growth in international project finance due to loose financing and major infrastructure stimulus packages.

The figure had slipped to around $963 billion in 2020, well below the low point reached after the global financial crisis a decade ago, amid a global economic fallout from the pandemic.

Turkey saw the FDI inflow reach $14 billion, up from around $8 billion in 2020, when the country saw a relatively smaller drop of 15%, compared to 35% on a global level.

The inflows since 2002 have exceeded the level of $240 billion, a statement by Presidential Investment Office said Friday. It said the inflows had financed 41% of the country’s total current account deficit.

Turkey’s share in global FDI flows has increased to 0.9%, up from 0.8% in 2021 and 0.6% in 2019. The country aims to lift this figure to 1.5%.

U.K. top investor

Manufacturing, service and agriculture topped the list among industries in Turkey, accounting for $8.4 billion of the FDI inflow in 2021, an increase of 116% from a year ago, the Investment Office said.

Investments in real estate market soared by 42.5% to $5.6 billion, it added.

European countries accounted for 60% of the inflows in Turkey, followed by Asia and the Americas with 23% and 16%, respectively.

The U.K. is the biggest investor among nations, accounting for 19%, followed by the U.S. and the Netherlands with 16% and 13%, respectively. Among other major investors were Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Qatar, the statement said.

The top 10 economies for FDI inflows in 2021 were the United States, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Brazil, India, South Africa, Russia and Mexico.

While the recovery benefited all regions, almost three-quarters of the growth was concentrated in developed economies, where FDI flows soared 134% to $746 billion, the report showed.

Flows to developing economies rose 30% to $837 billion – the highest level ever recorded – largely due to strength in Asia, a partial recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean and an upswing in Africa.

The share of developing countries in global flows remained just above 50%.

For structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies, FDI rose by 15% to 39 trillion.

Announced international project finance deals hit a record of 1,262 projects last year and more than doubled in value to $656 billion.

Ukraine war to hit investment

Meanwhile, UNCTAD said prospects for this year are grimmer, as food, fuel and financial crises triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine are dampening the business climate.

“The global environment for international investment changed dramatically with the onset of the war in Ukraine,” said UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan.

“The war is having effects well beyond its immediate vicinity, causing a cost-of-living crisis affecting billions of people.”

Investor uncertainty and risk aversion “could put significant downward pressure on global FDI this year,” the former vice president of Costa Rica said.

Signs of weakness are already emerging, UNCTAD said in its World Investment Report 2022.

Preliminary first-quarter data shows greenfield project announcements have plunged 21% globally, cross-border mergers and acquisitions activity are down 13% and international project finance deals dropped 4%.

Greenfield investment typically refers to projects that create new physical facilities which are considered productive, in part because they normally create jobs. New greenfield projects are considered an indicator of future FDI trends.

“This year, the business and investment climate has changed dramatically as the war in Ukraine results in a triple crisis of high food and fuel prices and tighter financing,” UNCTAD said.

“Other factors clouding the FDI horizon include renewed pandemic impacts, the likelihood of more interest rate rises in major economies, negative sentiment in financial markets and a potential recession.”

The agency said the growth momentum of 2021 could not be sustained and that global FDI flows in 2022 would “likely move on a downward trajectory, at best remaining flat.”

Fears

“This fragile growth of real productive investment is likely to persist in 2022,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“The fallout of the war in Ukraine with the triple food, fuel and finance crises, along with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and climate disruption, are adding stresses, particularly in developing countries.

“There is a significant risk that the momentum for recovery in international investment will stall prematurely, hampering efforts to boost finance for sustainable development.”/DS