WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/45
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5213)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
ZIMBABWE
Statement bytheHonourable N.M. Shamuyarira
Minister ofIndustry andCommerce
My colleague, theHonourable Minister ofTrade and Commerce ofTanzania,
Ndugu Abdullah O.Kigoda, hasbriefly outlined theposition ofthecollective membership ofthe
countriesoftheSouthernAfricanDevelopmentCommunity(SADC)ontheissuesbeforethisConference.
Zimbabwe endorses thatposition, andwishes tounderline twoaspects. Firstly, thehugeworkload
thattheWTO issetting upforitselfandforitsMembers, especially young members likeZimbabwe.
Inourview, thisConference should befocusing onthesubstantive review oftheimplementation of
theUruguay Round Agreements since theestablishment oftheWTO inJanuary 1995. Thecredibility
oftheWTO system liesinthefullimplementation oftheUruguay Round results. Thisimplementation
process iswithrespect tothenotification obligations, aswellastheactual implementation ofthe
substantive commitments. Thisincludes awiderange ofsubjects, which hasputaheavy administrative
burden onless-developed countries. Wethink theWTO hasadopted toomany agendas. Secondly,
thequestion ofthemandate oftheWTO. Thegeneral viewexpressed bymany speakers, andalso
intheopening statement bytheHonourable Prime Minister ofSingapore, Mr.GohChok Tong, is
thattheWTO should concentrate onitscorebusiness ofpromoting worldwide trade. Theissues of
labour should bedealtwithbytheILO, andthose ofinvestment anddevelopment bytheUNCTAD.
Zimbabwe supports these positions.
TheZimbabwe delegation hastaken noteoftheclarion callforliberalization andglobalization
oftrade thathasbeenmade bymany important speakers atthisConference. But,wehavedifficulty
inperceiving howitwillimpact onless-developed countries inAfrica. Inmany ofthese countries
poverty hasdeepened, unemployment hasincreased, andpercapita incomes havefallen overthelast
decade. Such economies donothavethedomestic capacity totakeadvantage ofliberalized trade.
Local farms andfirms cannot withstand thecompetition ofimports ofgoods andservices, andcannot
expand theirexports. Many ofthose least-developed countries which haveopened uptheireconomies
arenowfacing theuglyprospect ofde-industrialization. Thewide economic gapbetween the
industrialized countries oftheNorth, andthose oftheSouth, cannot benarrowed orremoved by
liberalization andglobalization measures alone.
Therelated issue istheprimacy ofastrong national government inanyState thatisgoing to
pullitself upbyitsbootstraps. Thesuccessful example ofindustrializing South-East Asian countries
isastrong caseinpoint. Those werepulled outofthecycle ofpoverty andputontheirpresent path
ofdevelopment andindustrialization bystrong national governments. Some oftheASEAN countries
arenowinaposition tocompete effectively intheneweconomic situation. But,forAfrican countries
thathavenotyet"taken-off", theywilltendtobepushed down rather thanbepulled up.Thedebt
burdens willbeincreased, andthegapbetween them andindustrialized countries willbewidened.
Admittedly, theprocess ofliberalization andglobalization hasbenefited some States, andwillmake
them richer. But,many more willloseout(mostly inAfrica). They should notbeforgotten.
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Theconcerns andfearsexpressed bymany delegations havebeenechoed bymany governments
inThird World countries. Lastmonth, theleaders ofthe"Group ofFifteen" (G-15) countries ofAsia,
Africa andLatin America metinHarare. They condemned theattempts bytheWTO tolinktrade
withtheso-called newissues atthisConference. They alsoasserted thesovereignty oftheirnations
which theyfeltwasthreatened bythenewissues. TheOAU hascirculated astatement thatishighly
critical ofthestrategy andapproach oftheWTO. However itisnecessary forregional andsubregional
economic organizations inthethree continents tocooperate fullyamong themselves, andtopromote
integration oftheireconomies asmuch aspossible. Theunity ofthepoorcountries helps toincrease
theirdomestic capacity, andtheirability tostand uptothose pressures fromtheWTO theymayconsider
detrimental totheirnational andregional interests.
Finally, mydelegation would liketocomment ontheproposals tocuttariffs oninformation
technology products, suchascomputers, software, semi-conductors andfibre-optic cables bytheyear
2000.GlobaltradeininformationtechnologyamountedtoUS$500millionin1995.Telecommunications
isarapidly growing industry inallThird World countries. Wesupport thegeneral ideaoflowering
tariffs inorder tobuild uptheindustry, butwemust express ourstrong opposition tomalpractices
ofdumping obsolete equipment inThird World countries, aswellasthedeliberate intervention ofcertain
bigpowers inourairwaves forthepurpose ofdissemination ofhostile propaganda orundermining
ourculture.