The term globalization is extremely controversial.

Debates currently raging about globalization include whether it even exists (Unger, 1997), whether it is more important now than at some earlier date (Bordo, Eichengreen, and Irwin, 1999), whether it is displacing the nation state (Strange, 1996; Wade, 1996), and whether it is more important than regionalism (Fishlow and Haggard, 1992) or localism (Rosenau, 1997a). Also, of course, there are endless analyses as well as polemics about whether the results are good or bad and for whom.

Globalization: Definition According to Oxford Dictionary Globalization is the fact that different cultures and economic systems around the world are becoming connected and similar to each other because, of the influence of large multinational companies and of improved communication.

According to Wikipedia Globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres.

In the broadest sense, Globalization implies integration of economies and societies across the globe through flows of technology, trade and capital. Integration of production, accelerated cross-border investments and more trade are the logical outcomes of this process. It is a phenomenon of 21st century. Globalization is the name for the process of increasing the connectivity and interdependence of the world's markets and businesses. This process has speeded up dramatically in the last two decades as technological advances make it easier for people to travel, communicate, and do business internationally. Two major recent driving forces are advances in telecommunications infrastructure and the rise of the internet. In general, as economies become more connected to other economies, they have increased opportunity but also increased competition. Thus, as globalization becomes a more and more common feature of world economics, powerful pro-globalization and anti-

globalization lobbies have arisen.

The

pro-globalization lobby argues

that

globalization brings

about

much

increased

opportunities for almost everyone, and increased competition is a good thing since it makes agents of production more efficient. The two most prominent pro-

globalization organizations are World Economic Forum.

the World

Trade

Organization

and

the

The anti-globalization group argues that certain groups of people who are deprived in terms of resources are not currently capable of functioning within the increased competitive pressure that will be brought about by allowing their economies to be more connected to the rest of the world. Important anti-globalization organizations include environmental groups like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace; international aid organizations like Oxfam; third world government organizations like the G-77; business organizations and trade unions whose competitiveness is threatened by globalization like the U.S. textiles and European farm lobby, as well as the Australian and U.S. trade union movements.

Local Development In the current stage of the globalization process, the issue of local development can be considered from two different perspectives. As far as the first perspective, it is not difficult to demonstrate that local development always begins in one place (or several, but never in all places at once), it is a path dependent phenomenon that evolves over time and it is always an essentially endogenous process (although its material base may be quite exogenous), always decentralized, and it always has a capillary-type dynamic from the bottom up and from the centre outwards. It will eventually produce - as a function of the territorial dialectic and of modernity itself - a development map which is rarely uniform but is usually in the form of an archipelago or, taken to an extreme, reflects a centre/periphery dichotomy. Local resources are the principal sources of work and income. Local fruits, vegetables and fishes, living and growing in diversified and thus unique environments, provide the worlds population with different kinds of food, each with its own identity and therefore in competition with the others. Furthermore, these primary goods can be transformed into natural medicines, preserves, and so on, that create added economic value, lead to small local enterprises and employment possibilities. (Boisier, S and Canzanelli, G.) International Trade and the World Economy Integration into the world economy has proven a powerful means for countries to promote economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. Over the past 20 years, the growth of

world trade has averaged 6 percent per year, twice as fast as world output. But trade has been an engine of growth for much longer. Since 1947, when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created, the world trading system has benefited from eight rounds of multilateral trade liberalization, as well as from unilateral and regional liberalization. Indeed, the last of these eight rounds (the so-called "Uruguay Round" completed in 1994) led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization to help administer the growing body of multilateral trade agreements. The resulting integration of the world economy has raised living standards around the world. Most developing countries have shared in this prosperity; in some, incomes have risen dramatically. As a group, developing countries have become much more important in world tradethey now account for one-third of world trade, up from about a quarter in the early 1970s. Many developing countries have substantially increased their exports of manufactures and services relative to traditional commodity exports: manufactures have risen to 80 percent of developing country exports. Moreover, trade between developing countries has grown rapidly, with 40 percent of their exports now going to other developing countries. However, the progress of integration has been uneven in recent decades. Progress has been very impressive for a number of developing countries in Asia and, to a lesser extent, in Latin America. These countries have become successful because they chose to participate in global trade, helping them to attract the bulk of foreign direct investment in developing countries. This is true of China and India since they embraced trade liberalization and other marketoriented reforms, and also of higher-income countries in Asialike Korea and Singapore that were themselves poor up to the 1970s. But progress has been less rapid for many other countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. The poorest countries have seen their share of world trade decline substantially, and without lowering their own barriers to trade, they risk further marginalization. About 75 developing and transition economies, including virtually all of the least developed countries, fit this description. In contrast to the successful integrators, they depend disproportionately on production and exports of traditional commodities. The reasons for their marginalization are complex, including deep-seated structural problems, weak policy frameworks and institutions, and protection at home and abroad (www.imf.org).

The Benefits of Trade Liberalization Policies that make an economy open to trade and investment with the rest of the world are needed for sustained economic growth. The evidence on this is clear. No country in recent decades has achieved economic success, in terms of substantial increases in living standards for its people, without being open to the rest of the world. In contrast, trade opening (along with opening to foreign direct investment) has been an important element in the economic success of East Asia, where the average import tariff has fallen from 30 percent to 10 percent over the past 20 years. Opening up their economies to the global economy has been essential in enabling many developing countries to develop competitive advantages in the manufacture of certain products. In these countries, defined by the World Bank as the "new globalizers," the number of people in absolute poverty declined by over 120 million (14 percent) between 1993 and 1998. There is considerable evidence that more outward-oriented countries tend consistently to grow faster than ones that are inward-looking. Indeed, one finding is that the benefits of trade liberalization can exceed the costs by more than a factor of 10. Countries that have opened their economies in recent years, including India, Vietnam, and Uganda, have experienced faster growth and more poverty reduction. On average, those developing countries that lowered tariffs sharply in the 1980s grew more quickly in the 1990s than those that did not. Freeing trade frequently benefits the poor especially. Developing countries can ill-afford the large implicit subsidies, often channeled to narrow privileged interests that trade protection provides. Moreover, the increased growth that results from freer trade itself tends to increase the incomes of the poor in roughly the same proportion as those of the population as a whole. New jobs are created for unskilled workers, raising them into the middle class. Overall, inequality among countries has been on the decline since 1990, reflecting more rapid economic growth in developing countries, in part the result of trade liberalization. The potential gains from eliminating remaining trade barriers are considerable. Estimates of the gains from eliminating all barriers to merchandise trade range from US$250 billion to US$680 billion per year. About two-thirds of these gains would accrue to industrial countries. But the amount accruing to developing countries would still be more than twice the level of

aid they currently receive. Moreover, developing countries would gain more from global trade liberalization as a percentage of their GDP than industrial countries, because their economies are more highly protected and because they face higher barriers. Although there are benefits from improved access to other countries' markets, countries benefit most from liberalizing their own markets. The main benefits for industrial countries would come from the liberalization of their agricultural markets. Developing countries would gain about equally from liberalization of manufacturing and agriculture. The group of lowincome countries, however, would gain most from agricultural liberalization in industrial countries because of the greater relative importance of agriculture in their economies (www.imf.org). World Trade Organization (WTO) The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.[4][5] Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (19861994)(Wikipedia 2012). Role of WTO in Globalization Globalisation takes place through growth of free or less restricted trading in goods, services, technology, and capital among different countries. But various kinds of trade barrers, subsidies, protectyionism, piracy and violation of intellectual property rights constrain the growth of international trade, tourism, technology, capital and labour flows. These cosntraints arise due to various concerns about the discriminatory nature of trading rules, absence of level plaing fields and reciprocity, dumping and special problems of developing countries in quickly opening up to free trade.

WTO helps the member countries to meet and discuss these issues and evolve generally accepted solutions for conclusion of agreements on the further opening up and liberalisation of trading regimes in different countries in a phased manner for smoother transition to greater free trade regimes. It also help resolve trading disputes and violatin of agreements by member countries. Thus, by contributing to the process of multilateral agreements on freer trade in goods, services and technology, the WTO contibutes to the process of increasing the globalisation and global integration and interdependence of national economies all over the globe (answers.yahoo.com).

World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. The WTO maintains regular dialogue with nongovernmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on various aspects of the WTO and the ongoing Doha negotiations, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities (www.wto.org). Challenge for Developing Countries It is important to recognize that globalization is not a zero-sum game--it is not necessary for some countries to lose in order that others may gain. But to take advantage of this trend, countries will have to position themselves properly through the right policies. Clearly, those economies that open themselves to trade and capital flows on a free and fair basis and are able to attract international capital will benefit the most from globalization. Open and integrated markets place a premium on good macroeconomic policies, and on the ability to respond quickly and appropriately to changes in the international environment. Globalization will continue to reinforce the interdependencies between different countries and regions. It can also deepen the partnership between the advanced countries and the rest of the world. And to support this partnership in a mutually beneficial way, the advanced countries could help to further open their markets to the products and services in which the developing world has a comparative advantage.

The challenge facing the developing world is to design public policies so as to maximize the potential benefits from globalization, and to minimize the downside risks of destabilization and/or marginalization. None of these policies is new, and most Developing countries have been implementing them for some time. It is essential to achieve the right combination of policies. Five main areas where developing countries need to achieve greater progress in order to speed up their participation in globalization: maintaining macroeconomic stability and accelerating structural reform ensuring economic security reforming financial sectors achieving good governance a partnership with civil society (Ouattara, 1997)

Globalization and Bangladesh The contemporary global debate on globalization and its multi-pronged impact has had a strong echo in the academic and political discussions in Bangladesh as well. After a hesitant start in the mid-1980s, Bangladesh moved decisively to embrace the wave of globalization in the 1990s. Ever since, the impact of globalization on the economy of Bangladesh and, more pointedly, on the lives of its people, has become a hotly debated issue. Bangladesh's economy grew rapidly during the 1990s as the country liberalized its markets and became increasingly integrated into the world economy. Until the 2001 global recession, Bangladesh ranked third for improvement of human development - behind only Cape Verde and China - thanks in large part to exports from its blossoming garment industry (Mahmud, 2003). Trade liberalization has been one of the major policy reforms carried out by Bangladesh. It has been implemented as part of the overall economic reform programme, that is, the structural adjustment programme (SAP) that was initiated in 1987 and which formed the component of the structural adjustment facility (SAF) and enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This adjustment programme put forward a wide range of policy reforms including trade, industrial, monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies, privatization of state-owned enterprises policy and the promotion of foreign direct investment.

Refferences Boisier, S and Canzanelli, G., 2008, Globalization and Local Development, Universitas Forum, Vol. 1, No. 1 in http://www.universitasforum.org/index.php/ojs/article/viewFile/14/25 (Accessed on March 6, 2012) Global Trade Liberalization and the Developing Countries in http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2001/110801.htm#i (Accessed on March 6, 2012) http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071231230312AAyIiVU Mahmud, W 2003, Bangladesh Faces the Challenge of Globalization in http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/bangladesh-faces-challenge-globalization(Accessed on March 6, 2012) Ouattaram, A. D. 1997, The Challenges of Globalization for Africa in http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/1997/052197.htm (Accessed on March 7, 2012) Understanding The WTO in http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/what_we_do_e.htm (Accessed on March 6, 2012) World Trade Organization. in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization Accessed on March 7, 2012)