| Mr. Chairman
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentleman,
| 1. |
It gives me great pleasure to participate in
the meeting of the SAARC Commerce Ministers
on WTO Issues held in this beautiful city of
Maldives. I also take this opportunity to thank
to the Government of the Republic of Maldives
and in particular, His Excellency, the Minister
of Trade and Industries, Abdulla Yamoon for
extending generous hospitality to me and to
my delegation. |
| 2. |
Mr. Chairman , in this connection I should also
like to thank to the Commerce Secretaries who
have painstakingly given serious thought on
WTO provisions with regard to the problems of
the implementation of Uruguay Round Agreements
and other related issues which have adverse
implications on the economy of the developing
as well as least developed countries. |
| 3. |
Mr. Chairman, in addition, I would also like
to thank to SAARC Secretary General and his
staff for efficiently organizing such meetings
time and again. |
| 4. |
Mr. Chairman, now I would like to reemphasis
the following points in this connection. |
| |
(a) |
First, Mr. Chairman, as you all know that Nepal
is in the process of accession to WTO. Going
through the literature what we have found is
that the Uruguay Round Agreements have made
developing countries undertake enormous commitments.
On the other hand, country like our does not
have such mechanisms and capacity to respond
obligations in a given time frame. Therefore,
I am of the view that instead of undertaking
commitments in new areas, implementation aspect
of the Uruguay Round Agreements be accomplished
and countries like ours be integrated in the
world trading system so that the share of the
benefits of international trade be distributed
equitably. |
| |
(b) |
Second, Mr. Chairman, as far as Nepal's accession
to WTO is concerned, I would like to request
to the SAARC member countries to unitedly support
Nepal's case on fast-track basis for accession
by making conditionalities for membership more
liberal and consistent with Nepal's developmental
needs. |
| |
(c) |
Third, Nepal being a land-locked and least developed
country suffers from the disadvantages in complementing
the supply side constraints. Therefore, SAARC
as a trading block should urge for the implementation
of various provisions of Uruguay Round Agreements
related to technical assistance to LDC's as
outlined in Article XVIII of GATT, 1994. In
this context, the Integrated Framework for Least
Developed Country's Trade Development need to
be emphasized for speedy operationalisation. |
| |
(d) |
Fourth, Mr. Chairman, as has been discussed
at length in the Consultative Meeting of SAARC
Commerce Secretaries, I would like to reemphasize
the full implementation of special and differential
treatment provisions available to developing
and least developed countries in the entire
range of WTO agreements. Delays in the implementation
of these provisions would weaken the opportunities
of developing and least developed countries
to be integrated in the world trading system. |
| |
(e) |
Fifth, Mr. Chairman, issues like foreign direct
investment, trade facilitation, competition
policy and government procurement need in-depth
study about its implications on individual economies.
A common approach in this regard is to be outlined
before entering into negotiation. |
| |
(f) |
Sixth, Mr. Chairman, we are of the view that
the introduction of environmental standards
in the multilateral trading system is a new
form of protectionism. Because, environmental
standards differ from country to country and
at this stage no commonality of standards have
evolved in our region. Therefore, inclusion
of environmental issues in the multilateral
agreements would marginalize the developmental
prospects of developing countries. |
| |
(g) |
Seventh, Mr. Chairman, we are of the view that
the inclusion of labour standards in the multilateral
agreement will bring adverse implication in
the economies of the region. Therefore, we uphold
the commitments made by Commerce Ministers at
the Singapore Ministerial Declaration. |
| |
(h) |
Finally, Mr. Chairman, having said all this,
there is a lot we can do together. We cannot
offer to remain complacent about the necessity
of nation building. I do not see any reason
why we together cannot achieve these objectives,
if there is in us a genuine will and commitment. |
I thank you very much,
Male, 9 August 1999 |
