International trade as a key factor for sustainable economic development

Abstract

PURPOSE: Sustainable economic development is a very ambitious goal of many countries and international organisations. It ensures optimal use of existing resources, a fair distribution of revenues and an overall increase in the level of prosperity. International trade, which is an important factor for economic growth, will undoubtedly play an important role in the implementation of this programme. Efficient external trade is not only a source of national income and economies of scale for companies, but also a harmonious development of all countries and peoples. Sustainable development should help prevent all people on our planet from becoming delimited and create the conditions for development. Hence, the purpose of this article is to present the main objectives of the Sustainable Economic Development Agenda and to link them to the development of international trade.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The applied scientific methodology is concerned with analysing selected literary and statistical sources on the Sustainable Development Agenda, linking the individual points of the programme with the growth process and attempting to establish links between the two programmes and international trade.

FINDINGS: The hypothesis put forward in the paper states that stable economic growth is a prerequisite for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda and that this depends on dynamic international trade. Although not all items of the Sustainable Development Agenda are directly linked to trade, they require all stable sources of revenue that can only be derived from strong economies.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The publication has a very current dimension and its conclusions can be taken into account in formulating further steps and demands under the Sustainable Development Agenda.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The undeniable added value of the publication is to find a completely new approach to the Sustainable Development Agenda, which is to generate the revenue needed to implement it. The answer to this challenge is stable economic growth linked to international trade. This new approach paves the way for further research and reflection on the close links between the Sustainable Growth and Sustainable Development programmes.