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Panitchpakdi's speeches
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Your Excellencies,
I am deeply honoured to have been invited to join you here in Maputo
today. Africa was the first continent that I visited as Director-General
of the WTO. Just one day after taking office I went to Johannesburg for
the World Summit on Sustainable Development and then travelled to
Nairobi. This was an important trip for me both substantially and
symbolically — because Africa is one of the WTO's most important
constituents. Not only because Africa has more WTO Members than any
other continent. But also because Africa is in greatest need to reap the
economic benefits that trade liberalisation can bring to fight poverty.
Africa needs the security and predictability of a framework of global
trade rules that only the WTO can provide. Today the combined share of
African nations in world trade stands at only three percent. Of the
forty-nine Least Developed Countries on this planet, thirty-four have
their home in Africa. This is a source of concern not only to the WTO,
but also to me personally.
I am pleased to be back here – because I strongly believe that the
current round of trade negotiations underway in the WTO — the “so-called
Doha Development Agenda” will be a vitally important tool in your
efforts to unlock Africa's huge economic potential and help you to raise
the living standards of your citizens. And in so doing, it will be a
powerful complement to Africa's commitment to growth and development
through the NEPAD initiative and other initiatives.
If the Doha Development Agenda is to stand up to its development
aspirations, it must support the development aspirations of the African
continent. And if the Doha Development Agenda is to succeed, it needs
support at the highest political level from all leaders around the
world. The negotiations are now entering a crucial period, and your
leadership will be pivotal.
In exactly two months time [from 10 to 14 September 2003] Trade
Ministers from the WTO's 146 Member Governments will be gathering in
Cancún, Mexico to take stock of two years of negotiations under the Doha
Development Agenda. They will need to take some important decisions and
they will also need to set a road-map for the final phase. The deadline
set for the conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda is 1 January 2005.
Time is short. I urge you to give your Trade Ministers the support,
guidance and flexibility that they will need as they prepare for this
meeting. I would also urge you to keep focus on how to achieve an
outcome which would positively contribute to your development.
The Road to Cancún
If I may, I should like to give you my perspective on what I believe
needs to be achieved over the next two months and at the Ministerial
meeting itself.
Firstly, I think that all Members are aware of the importance of
making concrete progress on some of the key “development issues” —
special and differential treatment, implementation and TRIPS and Public
Health. African countries were in the driving seat in putting these
issues onto the Doha Work Programme and pressing for an early agreement
in 2002. It was disappointing to all of us that these early deadlines
were not reached – in part, perhaps, reflecting the complexity of these
issues.
I know that TRIPS and Public Health is a hugely important issue for
Africa. This is a moral issue, not just commercial. And because of your
contributions and engagement, significant progress has been made in
advancing the issue of how to enable poor countries without a domestic
manufacturing capacity to obtain essential medicines under compulsory
licence. We still have some way to go, but I believe there is a
realistic chance of reaching agreement before the Cancún meeting. So I
hope that you will remain fully engaged in these discussions. The eyes
of the world are on this issue.
On implementation and on special and differential treatment, we have
seen some positive progress and, importantly a willingness to engage and
show flexibility by all Members — developed and developing alike. These
raise concerns of great importance and a lot of work remains to be done.
There are a huge number of proposals on the table. If we are to make
progress, further flexibility is needed and I would urge you to really
focus on the provisions that are of key priority to you. Again, given
the political sensitivities of this issue, it is important that
expeditious progress is made in these areas - both for the sake of these
individual processes, but also for the wider Doha Work Programme. I
know, however, that some of the implementation issues are particularly
difficult and may take a longer time to resolve — and if so, I hope that
this would not hold up progress in other areas.
Secondly, we must see a substantial narrowing of gaps on the three
areas of market access at Cancún — those of agriculture, services and
non-agricultural goods. Again I think that this is feasible. All
delegations are aware of the issues at stake and a lot of preparatory
work has been undertaken in each of the areas — in the form of draft
modalities papers in agriculture and non-agricultural goods, and also
through the request and offer process in services. The Cancún meeting
will give Ministers the opportunity to consider all areas of market
access together – to look for trade-offs and a balanced package. These
negotiations are absolutely central to the development component of the
Round and African nations have a lot to gain from secure, multilateral
liberalisation. Not only in terms of better access to developed country
markets and opportunities to develop domestic processing industries
through the reduction of tariff escalation in these countries, but also
through access to other developing country markets where tariff barriers
tend to be high. I would encourage you, when examining and assessing the
draft modalities to not only examine and assess each element
individually, but also all of them as a set in order to assess the
global balance which they represent.
Thirdly, we must ensure that the preparatory process for the
Ministerial Meeting is transparent and inclusive and that the conduct of
the meeting itself is guided by these principles. This process is
already underway. In Geneva, the Chairman of the General Council and I
have been undertaking a series of small group consultations followed by
informal meetings open to the full Membership to bring Members'
positions closer together. We must focus on clarifying and narrowing the
number of issues to be put before Ministers at Cancún so that they will
not be overwhelmed by a huge and unwieldy agenda for the meeting.
WTO Support for African Countries and NEPAD
I urge you to maintain and, if possible, upgrade your level of
engagement as we get closer to the Cancún Ministerial meeting. I hope
that you will continue to keep up a united front on issues of mutual
interest to you and other Members. Through the Africa Group of
Ambassadors in Geneva – you have tabled proposals in every area of the
negotiations. It is clear that by grouping together you exercise more
negotiating clout.
And I should like to emphasise my personal support for you and that of
the WTO Secretariat as you engage in these negotiations and more broadly
in the context of your work under the New Partnership for Africa's
Development. This is a common effort guided by leaders of Africa, but
has the full support of the International Community. The WTO Secretariat
stands ready to contribute in its area of competence.
I know that your delegations are stretched financially and in terms of
man power — particularly as many of you are negotiating with the EU
within the framework of Cotonou and also sub-regionally. With the
financial support of Members we have upgraded our technical assistance
efforts to African nations to help build local capacity to negotiate.
Africa was the birthplace of one of our newest and most successful
initiatives. That was to replicate in Africa the three-month intensive
Trade Policy Courses that we have run for many years in Geneva and to
involve African academics and practitioners with a view to build local
capacity for analysis. These courses have taken place in Kenya for
English-speaking African Country officials and in Morocco for
francophone officials. There is no substitute for this kind of in-depth
training.
We also appreciate that supply-side constraints are a key priority for
many of you. And for this reason we are involved in specific programmes
with other agencies responsible for supply-side capacity building — so
that under your ownership we can provide a holistic and coherent
approach to your development needs.
Conclusion
At no other time in history has the imperative of addressing issues of
poverty reduction and sustainable development been such a top priority
for the international community. We have seen this clearly illustrated
in the Millennium Development Goals, and in the commitments taken at
Monterrey and Johannesburg. We have also seen in initiatives like NEPAD
a desire for developing countries to own and take responsibility for
their development. And in both of these contexts growth through trade
must play a central role — in generating the resources needed by the
international community to reach its targets for poverty alleviation and
by national governments to address their domestic needs as they see fit.
The Doha Development Agenda offers African and other countries a unique
opportunity to facilitate their integration into the multilateral
trading system. There are big challenges ahead, but I am positive that
with the continued dedication and commitment that African countries have
shown, we shall reach a balanced package that will be to your great
benefit.
I hope I can count on your support.
Thank you. |
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Second
Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of Government of the African
Union Commission