WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/2
28April 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1709)
Ministerial Conference
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ONINTEGRATED INITIATIVES FOR
LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 'TRADE DEVELOPMENT
Outcome andFollow-up
Report oftheDirector-General
Introduction
1. Pursuant tothemandate contained intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration1,theHigh-Level
Meeting onIntegrated Initiatives forLeast-Developed Countries 'Trade Development washeldinthe
WTO on27-28 October 1997. Inaletter dated 10December 1997, Itransmitted theReport ofthe
Meeting toallWTO Ministers. Iampleased toprovide fortheinformation ofMinisters myreport
onthestepsthathavebeentaken sincethentobuild ontheresults oftheHigh-Level Meeting insupport
ofthetrade andtrade-related activities oftheleast-developed countries.
2. Nowthatfollow-up tothework initiated attheHigh-Level Meeting hasbecome thepriority,
there areanumber ofissues arising outofthereport thatIwould liketocomment on.
3. Thefirstconcerns theprogramme oftechnical assistance andcooperation activities thatisbeing
undertaken within theIntegrated Framework. Theinterest thatisbeing shown bysuchalargenumber
oftheleast-developed countries inparticipating inthisexercise hasbeenveryencouraging, andIam
convinced thatbydeveloping ourpartnership withthemfurther weshallbeabletomake ameaningful
1Ministers stated intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration that:
"We remain concerned bytheproblems oftheleast-developed countries andhave agreed to:
aPlanofAction,includingprovisionfortakingpositivemeasures,forexampleduty-freeaccess,
onanautonomousbasis,aimedatimprovingtheiroverallcapacitytorespondtotheopportunities
offered bythetrading system;
seektogiveoperational content tothePlanofAction, forexample, byenhancing conditions
forinvestment andproviding predictable andfavourable market access conditions forLLDCs '
products, tofoster theexpansion anddiversification oftheir exports tothemarkets ofall
developedcountries;andinthecaseofrelevantdevelopingcountriesinthecontextoftheGlobal
System ofTrade Preferences;
organize ameeting withUNCTAD andtheInternational Trade Centre assoon aspossible
in1997, withtheparticipation ofaidagencies, multilateral financial institutions andleast-
developed countries tofoster anintegrated approach toassisting these countries inenhancing
their trading opportunities."WT/MIN(98)/2
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contribution todeepening theirintegration intothemultilateral trading system. Iattach thehighest
importance tofullandsuccessful implementation ofthismuch intensified areaofactivity intheWTO,
andIhavebeenassured ofsimilar levels ofsupport andcommitment bytheexecutive heads ofthe
fiveother intergovernmental agencies thatparticipated withtheWTO inlaunching theendeavour at
theHigh-Level Meeting: theIMF, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP andtheWorld Bank.
4. Iwishtopaytribute totheexcellent cooperation thathastaken place among thestaffofthe
sixagencies involved. Thislaidthebasisforthesuccess oftheHigh-Level Meeting, andithascontinued
since theninthepreparation ofadditional integrated programmes oftechnical assistance forleast-
developed countries thathaverequested them. Todate,programmes havebeenagreed onwiththirty-
fourleast-developed countries andsteps arebeing taken toimplement andoperationalize them, and
where necessary tosecure financing forthem; fivemore arebeing prepared. Ithasbeenagreed among
thesixagencies thattheircooperation willcontinue inanInter-Agency Working Group, which will
assume responsibility formanaging theprogramme ofactivities thatiscalled forunder theIntegrated
Framework. Thisisacollaborative exercise inwhich alltheagencies willcontinue toparticipate as
fullpartners,andIshallensurethattheWTOSecretariatwillcontinuetocontributenotonlyitsparticular
technical expertise totheendeavour butalsothecommitment andleadership thatithasdemonstrated
intheprocess sofar.Tothatend,Ihavedecided tocreate intheTechnical Cooperation andTraining
Division oftheWTO Secretariat aprofessional postdedicated tothetechnical assistance needs ofthe
least-developed countries, withprimary responsibility forcoordination oftheWTO 'scontribution to
theIntegrated Framework.
5. Ithasbeen agreed alsoamong thesixagencies thatasmall administrative unitshould be
established, located inITC,tohandle theday-to-day work ofandtoservice themeetings oftheInter-
Agency Working Group. Iwishtothank Mr.D.Bélisle, Executive Director ofITC,forhaving agreed
totakeontheresponsibility ofthisunit. Details ofthestaffing oftheadministrative unitarecurrently
under discussion between Mr.Ricupero, Mr.Bélisle andmyself. Once wehaveagreed onasuitable
formulation, weshallapproach ourrespective governing bodies withaproposal onappropriate financial
arrangements tostafftheunit. Iwould liketoexpress myhope thatWTO Members willconsider
ourproposal positively.
6. Theintroduction oftheIntegrated Framework hasincreased significantly thedemands onthe
WTO tostaffandfinance theadditional technical assistance activities which arebeing supplied toleast-
developed countries. Atpresent, more than80percentofthetechnical assistance activities ofthe
WTO Secretariat isfinanced byextra-budgetary resources, through dedicated Trust Funds thathave
beenestablished byanumber ofMembers forthispurpose. Iwishtopaytribute tothese Members,
without whose generosity WTO technical assistance activities would have tobescaled back very
considerably. Idonotbelieve, however, thatcontinuing thiscurrent financing arrangement isdesirable
orsustainable overthemedium-term. Consultations aretaking placeintheWTO Committees onTrade
andDevelopment andonBudget, Finance andAdministration toidentify thebestmeans ofplacing
onamore sustainable basis thefinancing ofWTO technical assistance, including technical assistance
delivered bytheWTO under theIntegrated Framework forleast-developed countries. Iwould like
toexpress myhopethatWTO Members willconsider theproposals thatderive fromtheseconsultations
positively. Without astrong commitment byWTO Members tofinance inthebudget thegrowing
needs oftechnical assistance inanappropriate way, theessential objective ofimplementation of
commitments made intheUruguay Round, especially bythedeveloping andleast-developed countries,
could beinserious jeopardy.
7. Thenextissue towhich Iwould liketodraw Ministers 'attention istheobjective ofsecuring
improved market access forproducts ofparticular export interest toleast-developed countries, which
wasincluded intheUruguay Round Decision onMeasures inFavour ofLeast-Developed Countries
andtheWTO PlanofAction fortheLeast-Developed Countries thatwasadopted inDecember 1996WT/MIN(98)/2
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attheSingapore Ministerial Conference. InJuly1997, Iwrote toallWTO Ministers urging them
topresent theresults oftheirreflections onthisissue attheHigh-Level Meeting inOctober 1997.
Inmystatement atthatMeeting Imade apoint ofdrawing attention tothefactthattheleast-developed
countries, collectively, account foronly0.4percentoftotalworld exports, afigure which points both
totheproblem ofmarginalization ofthese countries intheworld economy andtotheinsignificance
ofthecompetitive threat which itcanbeclaimed theyposetoestablished producer interests inmost
WTO Members. Theresponse wereceived attheHigh-Level Meeting wasnotdiscouraging, butI
continue tofeelthatmuch more canbedoneinthisarea. Icongratulate those Members thatannounced
formally attheHigh-Level Meeting theirintention ofimproving onanautonomous basismarket access
infavour ofexports fromleast-developed countries, andIwould liketoencourage themtofollow-up
assoonaspossible withnotifications totheWTO ofthespecific measures theyhavetaken inthisregard.
Iwould likealsotorenew myrequest toother WTO Members toreview theirposition onthisissue
andtore-examine whether theytoomight beinaposition tomake acontribution. Ifirmly believe
thatthemultilateral system willemerge strengthened from more widespread action inthisregard.
Ibelieve itwould beappropriate toconsider, inthepreparation ofthethirdMinisterial Conference,
including theobjective ofeliminating alltariff barriers infavour oftheleast-developed countries as
amatter forimplementing onapriority basis inthenegotiations which willstartintheyear2000.
Itwould beimportant notjustforalltheadvanced economies, butalsoforthemostdynamic developing
countries, tosubscribe tothisobjective andtotheprinciple ofbinding theliberalization under theWTO.
8. Finally, Iwishtostress theimportance Iattach totheactivities which theWTO isundertaking
tobring thebenefits ofmodern information technology totheleast-developed countries. Theglobal
economy hasentered anewageinwhich information andinformation technology arenolonger luxuries
thatonlythewealthy canaspire tohaveattheirfingertips, butkeyfactors ofproduction forallWTO
Members. Weareliving through aperiod inwhich thebenefits ofuniversal dissemination ofanew
technology have never been sogreat, butequally sothecosts ofexclusion. Participating inthe
"information age"offers theleast-developed countries anextremely important opportunity toparticipate
inamore informed way,onamore active andcosteffective basis, andwithagreater sense ofinclusion
intheactivities oftheWTO, through theiraccess toWTO databases, totheWTO Secretariat, and
directly toother WTO Members. Ihavemade acommitment toensure thattheministries oftrade
oftheleast-developed countries, bytheendofthisyear, areproperly equipped totakeadvantage of
thisnewopportunity, andthattheWTO Secretariat isfullycapable ofresponding totheirneeds in
thisarea;acentralized e-mail helpdesk(referencecentre@wto.org) hasbeenestablished intheWTO
Secretariat torespond torequests from least-developed countries. Iurgeallother WTO Members
tofollow suit,andlendassistance toensure thattheleast-developed countries benefit fullyfromthis
exciting newtechnological revolution, andarenotleftonthefringes ofit.
9. Itismypleasure topresent below fulldetails ontheoutcome andthefollow-up totheHigh-Level
Meeting fortheLeast-Developed Countries.
**********
Outcome oftheHigh-Level Meeting
10. TheReport oftheHigh-Level Meeting onIntegrated Initiatives forLeast-Developed Countries '
Trade Development iscontained indocument WT/LDC/HL/23. Notes ontheproceedings oftheHigh-
Level Meeting arecontained indocuments WT/LDC/HL/M/1 andAdd.1.WT/MIN(98)/2
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TheIntegrated Framework forTrade-Related Technical Assistance
11. TheHigh-Level Meeting endorsed theIntegrated Framework forTrade-Related Technical
Assistance, Including forHuman andInstitutional Capacity-Building, tosupport Least-Developed
Countries inTheir Trade andTrade-Related Activities (WT/LDC/HL/1/Rev.1). TheChairman ofthe
Meeting, Minister JanPronk oftheNetherlands, suggested theHigh-Level Meeting recommend that
thefiveother intergovernmental agencies involved withtheWTO intheIntegrated Framework (IMF,
ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP andtheWorld Bank) seekapproval fortheirparticipation andcontribution
intheIntegrated Framework from theirrespective governing bodies according totheir respective
procedures andmandates. Thefollowing information hasbeensupplied totheWTO inthisregard.
TheExecutive Board ofUNDP/UNFPA endorsed theIntegrated Framework atitssession heldfrom
19-26 January 1998. TheTrade andDevelopment Board ofUNCTAD endorsed theIntegrated
Framework atitssession on16February 1998. ITC'sparticipation intheprogramme isensured
ipsofactosinceitisajointsubsidiary organ ofWTO andtheUN,thelatter acting through UNCTAD.
StaffoftheIMFandtheWorld Bank haveinformed theirrespective Executive Boards oftheresults
oftheHigh-Level Meeting andoftheirintention toparticipate intheapplication oftheIntegrated
Framework. ThestaffoftheWorld Bank provided atechnical briefing ontheIntegrated Framework
foritsExecutive Board on23March 1998. TheExecutive Board hasscheduled adiscussion onthe
Integrated Framework for5May, atwhich itwillconsider thequestion offormal endorsement ofthe
Bank'sparticipation init.
12. Sofar,thirty-nine least-developed countries areparticipating intheexercise thatisbeing carried
outunder theIntegrated Framework. They are:Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic
ofCongo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, theGambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Laos,
Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda,
Samoa,Sao-TomeandPrincipe,SolomonIslands,Sudan,Tanzania,Togo,Uganda,VanuatuandZambia.
13. Thefirststage oftheIntegrated Framework involves thepreparation byeachleast-developed
country ofanassessment ofitsneeds intheareaoftrade-related technical assistance. Upon request,
thesixintergovernmental agencies involved assist least-developed countries toprepare theirneeds
assessments. WTO staffhaveparticipated ineight suchmissions, several ofthem jointly withstaff
oftheother agencies. Upon submission ofacompleted needs assessment, thesixagencies cooperate
inthepreparation ofaprovisional programme oftrade-related technical assistance thatresponds to
theneeds identified. Thisisdiscussed andagreed onwiththeleast-developed country concerned.
Todate,thisexercise hasbeencompleted forthirty-four oftheleast-developed countries listed above.
TheresultshavebeenpublishedinthedocumentseriesWT/COMTD/IF/-.Thenextinter-agencymeeting
toreview theneeds assessments submitted byleast-developed countries forwhich theexercise hasnot
yetbeencompleted willtakeplace inJuneatUNDP headquarters inNewYork.
14. Bywayoftheimplementation oftheWTO Secretariat 'scommitments under thisstage ofthe
Integrated Framework, athree-week Trade Policy Course forparticipants fromEnglish-speaking least-
developed countries isbeing conducted inGeneva; asimilar course forFrench-speaking countries will
beorganized inTorino, ItalyinSeptember/October 1998. These courses areintended tofamiliarize
participants withtheWTO system anditsrules andtotrainthem intechniques ofmultilateral trade
negotiations. Eight specialized regional seminars willalsohavebeenheld, three ofthem undertaken
jointly withtheWorld Bank, focusing indepth ontheWTO Agreements. Thirteen seminars/workshops
inindividual least-developed countries haveorwillhavebeenundertaken during thefirstsemester
of1998, fourofthem withtheparticipation oftheITCandUNDP. Inaddition, several technical
missions were heldduring thisperiod, oneonfinancial services andfourtoassist least-developed
countries infulfilling theirimplementation obligations under theWTO Agreements.WT/MIN(98)/2
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15. Thenextstage istobroaden theexercise sothatleast-developed countries canseeksupport
thatgoesbeyond whatthesixagencies canmake available tomeettheirneeds fortrade-related technical
assistance andcooperation. Itinvolves eachleast-developed country, along withitsmultilateral, regional
andbilateral development partners, reviewing itsassessment ofitsneeds fortrade-related technical
assistance andpreparing aconcrete programme oftechnical assistance tomeetthoseneeds. Thisexercise
culminates intheleast-developed country scheduling atrade-sector Roundtable meeting, typically in
thecontext ofaWorld Bank Consultative Group meeting oraUNDP Roundtable meeting. The
Roundtable meeting willprovide anopportunity fortheleast-developed country 'sdevelopment partners
toendorse amulti-year programme oftrade-related technical assistance activities, todesignate
implementing/executing agencies, andtoannounce interest infinancing and/or providing technical
assistance andexpertise tosupport elements oftheprogramme. UNDP andtheWorld Bank arewell-
suited toplayacentral roleinassisting least-developed countries atthisstage oftheexercise, byvirtue
oftheirextensive experience inorganizing Roundtable andConsultative Group Meetings andtheir
resident missions inmostoftheleast-developed countries. Todate,seven least-developed countries
haveinformed theagencies oftheirinterest inscheduling trade-sector Roundtables under theIntegrated
Framework, andinsome cases UNDP ortheWorld Bank havebeenasked already toassist intheir
preparation.
16. Inorder toensure successful implementation overthemedium-term ofactivities carried out
under theIntegrated Framework, agreement hasbeenreached toconsolidate theexisting coordination
process among thesixagencies intoanInter-Agency Working Group, comprising stafffrom eachof
thesixagencies involved, designated bytheiragency asbeing responsible forthecoordination ofits
contribution under theIntegrated Framework. TheWorking Group willcontinue tomeetregularly
tomaintaininter-agencycollaboration,toassumeresponsibilityformanagingtheprogrammeofactivities
thatiscalled forunder theIntegrated Framework, tocarry outtheevaluation oftheoperation ofthe
Integrated Framework thatisforeseen twoyears afteritsendorsement, andtoidentify andcarry out
anyother work resulting from itsoperation. With thesupport oftheother fiveagencies, theWTO
Secretariat willcontinue tochairmeetings ofthisWorking Group. Based onthework oftheWorking
Group, eachofthesixagencies willreport, asappropriate, toitsgoverning body onprogress in
implementing theIntegrated Framework.
17. Todate, alladministration oftheinter-agency coordination process hasbeencarried outby
theWTOSecretariat.Toreplacethisadhocarrangement,asmalladministrativeunitwillbeestablished,
located inITC,tohandle theday-to-day work ofandtoservice meetings oftheInter-Agency Working
Group. Under theguidance oftheWorking Group, theadministrative unitwillundertake suchtasks
astheInter-Agency Working Group maydirect, inorder toensure thatallactivities andobjectives
reflected intheIntegrated Framework areaddressed effectively. Thetasks involved willinclude for
example, operating adatabase oftrade-related technical assistance forleast-developed countries and
disseminating information ontheimplementation oftheIntegrated Framework.
18. Anumber ofother intergovernmental organisations haveexpressed interest inworking with
thesixcoreagencies andleast-developed countries under theIntegrated Framework, notably the
Commonwealth Secretariat, theCommon Fund forCommodities, theUNEconomic Commission for
Africa, theUNEconomic andSocial Commission forAsiaandthePacific, theForum Secretariat,
FAO, theIslamic Development Bank, UNIDO andtheWorld Customs Organisation. Opportunities
forcloser collaboration withtheseorganisations willariseinthepreparation oftheconcrete programmes
oftrade-related technical assistance forindividual least-developed countries.WT/MIN(98)/2
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Market Access
19. AttheHigh-Level Meeting, WTO Members were invited toannounce steps theywould be
taking onanautonomous basis toenhance market access forimports fromleast-developed countries,
andtonotify thedetails tothesecretariats ofWTO andUNCTAD assoonaspossible. Thestatements
made bydelegations inresponse tothis invitation arerecorded intheNote onthe
Meeting (WT/LDC/HL/M/1).
20. Since theHigh-Level Meeting, theWTO Secretariat hasreceived twocommunications. One
isfromtheGovernment ofTurkey stating that,pursuant totheannouncement Turkey made attheHigh-
Level Meeting, additional preferential tariffratesarebeing applied, effective 1January 1998, tosome
250products atthe 12-digit tariff line basis originating from least-developed
countries (WT/COMTD/W/39). Thesecond isfromtheCommission oftheEuropean Communities
stating that,pursuant tothecommitments theECundertook attheHigh-Level Meeting, non-ACP least-
developedcountriesarebenefiting,asof1January1998,fromzerodutiesonalargenumberofindustrial
products thatwere previously excluded from theGSPscheme aswellasfrom tariff reductions on
agricultural products inlinewithACP preferences thatwere alsopreviously excluded from GSP
(WT/COMTD/W/41). Ninety-nine percentofleast-developed countries 'exports nowenter theEU
market duty-free.
Thematic Roundtable Recommendations
21. Following arequest made bytheChairman oftheHigh-Level Meeting, theDirector-General
conveyed therecommendations emanating fromthetwoThematic Roundtable discussions attheMeeting
forconsideration totheappropriate intergovernmental organisations aswellastothegovernments of
theleast-developed countries andtheirdevelopment andtrading partners.
22. Tworecommendations oftheThematic Roundtables related directly tothework oftheWTO.
(a) Develop efforts toassist least-developed countries intheprocess ofaccession
Since theHigh-Level Meeting, Laos hasrequested accession totheWTO, bringing tofive
thenumber ofleast-developed countries currently intheprocess ofaccession (Cambodia, Nepal, Sudan
andVanuatu). Inaddition, theGeneral Council hasgranted observer status toEthiopia (October 1997)
andCapVerde (February 1998). Itwillexamine arequest forobserver status fromBhutan atitsApril
meeting. Bearing inmind thatWTO accession involves aserious process ofnegotiation between the
acceding country andWTO Members, efforts arebeing made toassist least-developed countries in
theprocess ofaccession. TheSecretariat hasbeentaking initiatives, withthecooperation ofWTO
Members, tostreamline theaccession processes ofthese countries totheextent possible. Onekey
objective istoensure thatthemaximum amount ofworkiscompleted inbetween working partymeetings
sothatthenumber ofmeetings iskepttoanabsolute minimum. Toachieve this,ithasbeennecessary
toensure thatthedocumentation required isuptostandard toenable agreement onterms ofentry as
soonaspossible. Simultaneously, special attention hasbeengiven toexpediting thebilateral market
access negotiations through anearly submission andnegotiation ofoffers from these governments.
Onboththese fronts, theSecretariat hasbeenproviding focused technical assistance tothesecountries
from theearliest stages oftheiraccession process.
Going beyond thespecific needs oftheaccession process, theSecretariat isincreasingly assisting
these countries inareas suchashelping draftWTO-related legislation andhelping establish thetrade
policy infrastructure necessary topursue theirtrade interests intheWTO afteraccession.WT/MIN(98)/2
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(b) Accommodate onapriority basis requests from least-developed countries forTrade
Policy Reviews andassist least-developed countries inpreparing fortheirReviews
Under theAgreement ontheTrade Policy Review Mechanism, least-developed countries are
subject toreview atintervals ofsixyears ormore. Trade Policy Reviews havebeencompleted, or
areunderway inthe1998review programme, fortenofthetwenty-nine least-developed countries that
areWTO Members: Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Solomon Islands, Togo,
Uganda andZambia. During 1998, thereviews ofBurkina FasoandMali, andofGuinea andTogo,
willbegrouped together inthemeetings oftheTrade Policy Review Body; thereview ofLesotho
wasconducted inApril 1998 together withother members oftheSouthern African Customs Union.
TheReport oftheTrade Policy Review Body for1997totheGeneral Council noted thatnewrequests
forreviews byleast-developed countries havealready resulted fromtheHigh-Level Meeting andmore
arebound tofollow.
WTO Information Technology forDevelopment Projects inLeast-Developed Countries
23. TheDirector-General informed theHigh-Level Meeting about thenewinformation technologies
thattheWTO isexploiting inpartnership withtheWorld Bank, andmade acommitment thattheWTO
wouldprovidegovernmentofficialsinleast-developedcountryWTOMemberswithcomputers,equipment
andtheknow-how toaccess theinformation provided ontheWTO Internet web-site before theend
of1998. This commitment wasmade inthecontext oftheWTO Information Technology for
Development Project, which aimstosupport theintegration ofleast-developed andother developing
countries intothemultilateral trading system. Some ofthese activities aredeployed inthecapitals
ofthecountries involved, where theWTO assists intheestablishment andoperation ofWTO Reference
Centres intrade ministries. Other activities areaimed atdeveloping information about theWTO and
themultilateral trading system thatcanbeaccessed bytrade officials through theInternet andonCD-
ROMs. TheWTO hasalsoputinplaceane-mail (referencecentre@wto.org) helpdeskthatwillchannel
andensure responses toquestions addressed totheWTO fromleast-developed country tradeministries.
Theuseofthise-mail capacity isbeing introduced intotraining activities conducted bytheTechnical
Cooperation andTraining Division, including theinclusion ofamodule onsubmitting notifications
viae-mail intheregular Notification Seminar being organized fortheendof1998.
24. TheseactivitiesarebeingundertakenaspartoftheWTO'sresponsetoleast-developedcountries'
needs assessments andarebeing carried outunder theIntegrated Framework fortrade-related technical
assistance. Theprogramme began in1997. BytheendofApril 1998, theWTO willhaveassisted
intheestablishment ofWTO Reference Centres intwenty-two least-developed countries. Theneeds
ofallleast-developed country WTO Members andObservers inthisareawillhavebeenmetbythe
endof1998.
25. TheInformation Technologies forDevelopment Project (ITD) isacompanion initiative which
isfocused ondeveloping trade information andtraining resources which canbeaccessed byleast-
developedcountryWTOMembersviatheInternetandonotherelectronicplatforms,includingCD-ROMs
anddiskettes. TheITDproject isbeing carried outjointly bytheWTO andtheWorld Bank’sEconomic
Development Institute.
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