RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
30 April 1999
(99-1757)
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 1 MARCH 1999
Chair:  Ambassador H.H. Bruun (Denmark)
I. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
1. The Sub-Committee adopted the agenda contained in WTO/AIR/1025, with the addition,
under "other business", of the date of the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.
II. FOLLOW-UP TO THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON LEAST-DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES
A. PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK - PRESENTATION BY
THE SECRETARIAT
2. The Chairman introduced document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/13, containing the third Progress
Report on WTO implementation of the Integrated Framework.  This document had been issued only
on 24 February 1999 so that it could contain the latest information stemming from the Inter-AgencyMeeting, held on 16 and 17 February at the IMF in Washington.
3. A representative of the Secretariat highlighted points from the report.  She said that progress
was being made under the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to
Least-Developed Countries (LDCs).  The vast majority of the LDCs had submitted completed needs
assessments to which the six Agencies had drawn up Integrated Responses.  The process of the
Integrated Framework was currently in its second phase, the organization of trade-related sectoral
round-tables.
4. The Integrated Framework was not a programme, but a structure for the coordination of trade-
related technical assistance between the LDCs, th e six Agencies most closely involved in the
Integrated Framework and other development partne rs of the LDCs (bilateral, regional and other
multilateral agencies).  The Integrated Framework would ultimately lead to concrete programmes of
trade-related technical assistance for individual LDCs.  An important step towards reaching suchprogrammes was for each LDC to call a trade-related sectoral round-table to which it would invite not
only the six Agencies, but also other development part ners of its choice.  Those could include, apart
from bilateral, regional and multilateral agencies, the private sector and non-governmental
organizations.  Those trade-related sectoral round-tables were the occasion at which concrete
programmes of trade-related technical assistance could be endorsed and to which the six Agencies andother development partners of the LDCs could contribute with assistance and/or financial resources.
5. Twenty-one LDCs had so far indicated an interest in organizing trade-related sectoral round-
tables and they were at various stages of preparation.  The first such round-table had taken place in
Kampala, in December 1998, in conjunction with Uganda's large Consultative Group meetingWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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organized with the assistance of the World Bank.  Several other trade-related sectoral round-tables
were in the final stages of preparation, such as those to take place in Haiti and Ethiopia.
6. Real progress had been made.  However,  as the third Progress Report stated, certain obstacles
had been encountered.  She wished to share those with delegations, as the Integrated Framework was
a coordination mechanism in which many actors were involved.  The limited experience in assistingcertain LDCs organize their trade-related sectoral round-tables had shown that the organization of
such meetings was not an easy affair.  Several LDCs had asked for assistance in that respect.  The
major obstacle was difficulties in coordination among the various ministries and the private sector in
the LDCs themselves, and also less than perfect coordination within each agency.  Among the six
Agencies a real effort to improve coordination was being made and was bearing fruit.  There was also
less than perfect coordination within the donor community.  Even if Geneva-based representatives of
the donor community were supportive and had endorsed the Integrated Framework, their colleagues inthe field might not always be as aware of the Integrated Framework as was desirable.  Nothing of the
above was meant as a criticism: coordination was difficult and took time.
7. In spite of the problems, the commitment to continue progress under the Integrated
Framework remained.  To address the obstacles encountered, the six Agencies had decided to
structure their assistance to help the LDCs organize their trade-related sectoral round-tables, both interms of the process and in terms of the background documentation to be presented by the
governments to other development partners.  The six Agencies had therefore agreed that upon request
by an LDC, the six Agencies, or the Administrative Unit for the Integrated Framework, would
recommend that the lead Ministry in the LDC initiate the preparatory process leading up to a trade-
related sectoral round-table by calling a "launching meeting" in the country to which all the potentialactors should be invited.  Those actors could include the lead Ministry and other Ministries, the
private sector, banks and the bilateral, multilatera l, and regional donor community within its country.
The idea was to meet with all potential stakeholders relevant for a successful trade-related sectoral
round-table at the outset.  A representative from one of the six Agencies could, if desired, go to that
meeting to inform the participants about the Integrated Framework process and the results soughtfrom the trade-related sectoral round-table.  It was hoped that having the stakeholders on board from
the outset would assist the government to carry the process forward.
8. The documentation for the trade-related sectoral round-table did not need to be voluminous.
The process should stay as light and as non-bureaucratic as possible.  Nevertheless, in order to hold a
successful trade-related sectoral round-table it was necessary to present convincing arguments to
development partners so that they could contribute effectively in terms of technical assistance and
financial support.  The six Agencies were in the process of finalizing an outline of the kind ofinformation that could be included in the documentation to be prepared for a trade-related sectoral
round-table.  The launching meeting and the outline for documentation were only options which a
government could choose to use in its preparatory process.
9. The trade-related sectoral round-tables held in the capitals of the LDCs in the Integrated
Framework process were different from the large UNDP Round-Tables usually held in Geneva or theWorld Bank Consultative Group Meetings usually held  in Paris.  The latter two normally dealt with
every issue on the development agenda of a country whereas the Integrated Framework trade-related
sectoral round-tables were specific to the trade sector.  Trade issues could of course figure in the large
UNDP Round-Tables or World Bank Consultative Group Meetings as well if the LDCs so wished.
For example, a LDC could use those larger meetings as an opportunity to place markers fortrade-related technical assistance and indicate that a trade-related sectoral round-table would be held
at a later date, as a follow-up.
10. The representative of Haiti stressed the importance to remain consistent in the terminology
used to indicate the trade-related sectoral round-tables. The expression "donor meeting" wasWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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inappropriate as donors could organize meetings among themselves.  In addition, his Government
might want to invite other development partners which were not necessarily donors but which were
nevertheless committed to Haiti's development.  It could for example be envisaged that the
Government of Haiti wished to invite the Government of Cuba, which would not be a donor but
which had shown interest in assisting the Government of Haiti.  His Government expected thetrade-sector round-table under the Integrated Fram ework to lead to assistance both to permit the
Ministries concerned to get organized and to the private sector to create a certain level of
coordination; his Government also expected a certain coordination and coherence in the approach of
the six Agencies in supporting the LDC on development-related issues.  In the preparation of the
trade-sector round-table, coordination problems ha d been encountered, not only at the national level
but also at the level of the six Agencies.  He was not convinced that certain of the agencies present in
his country were committed enough to the organization of such a round-table.  The first problem wasthe choice of the lead-agency to help organize the trade-sector round-table.  Certain countries were
part of the cycle of Consultative Group Meetings organized with the assistance of the World Bank,
while others belonged to the cycle of Round-Tables  organized with the assistance of UNDP.  While
his country was part of the Consultative Group cy cle, rather than the UNDP Round-Table cycle, his
Government had nevertheless chosen the UNDP as lead-agency in the preparatory process leading upto the sectoral round-table.  He was under the impression that this had led the World Bank to be less
than fully committed to the trade-related round-table exercise.
11. The representative of the European Communities said that the Third Progress Report clarified
the status of the follow-up.  Lots of effort seemed to have been put into the process.  In spite of that, it
was a fact that, so far, only one trade-sector rou nd-table had been held, namely in Uganda.  That was
less than expected, but the key words of the High-L evel Meeting had to be recalled: "ownership" and
"demand-driven".  Those words had to be kept in mind, as a pro-active stance by the LDCs
themselves was the basis of the Integrated Framework.  However, as was mentioned in the Third
Progress Report, it had to be understood that it was not easy for the LDCs to organize trade-sector
roundtable meetings.  Her delegation appreciated the proposal by the six Agencies to suggest to theLDCs to hold launching meetings in their countries.  If coordination was the essence of the exercise, it
was useful to have coordination on the spot at the beginning of the process for the country to steer the
process in an efficient way.  That was also important for all those that were interested in providing
further support to its development.
12. The representative of Bangladesh said that the presentation was useful and had highlighted
the problems of coordination which were common and also appeared among the six Agencies.  He
wished to give the story from his Government 's point of view.  As the process should be
demand-driven, his Government had always been active and asked for more, which seemed to have
been well understood by the international community.  His Government had, during the latter part of
1998, written to the organizations in Geneva statin g that it was ready to organize a trade-sector
round-table and had requested specific assistance.  The assistance demanded included the
incorporation of the various documents into one comprehensive document to be placed before thetrade-sector round-table.  His Go vernment had then been informed that the World Bank would assist
it in preparing for the round-table for mid-1999.  The World Bank would do this in the context of one
of its projects in Bangladesh called "Export Diversification Project" which was separate from the
Integrated Framework mechanism.  Once negotiations on this Project between the Government of
Bangladesh and the World Bank would be completed;  the holding of a trade-sector round-table could
be incorporated as a sub-event.  The "Export Diversification Project" had not yet been approved and
was still under negotiation.  He was currently not su re that the trade-sector round-table could be held
in Bangladesh by June 1999 either.  His delegation understood the difficulties of international
coordination.  At the same time, there was an interest in the Integrated Framework process in his
country and expectations had been created.  The holding of a trade-sector round-table was needed andshould be in the mutual interest of his Government and the six Agencies.  It should at least be held
before the Third Ministerial Conference.  If no progress could be shown to the Government andWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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people of Bangladesh there might well be a gap which all involved would suffer from.  He said that
his remarks were made in the spirit of cooperation and friendship.  Nobody was criticised but some
concrete work had to be undertaken.
13. The representative of Sudan thanked UNCTAD and WTO for assisting his Government in
implementing phase two of the Integrated Framework, which was the convening of the trade-sector
round table.  The phase should be demand-driven and "owned" by the Government of the LDC.  The
convening of the trade-sector round-table was a national responsibility.  Regarding paragraph 26 of
the Third Progress Report he sought clarification as to the assistance provided by the WTO Secretariat
to the LDCs currently in the process of accession.  That was an important issue for his country.  He
welcomed the proposal made by the European Communities in the Special Session of the
General Council held on 25 February 1999, regarding the streamlining and expediting of the accession
of LDCs to the WTO.  The fast-track procedure proposed by the European Communities was timelyand could constitute a practical step towards the speedy integration of LDCs into the multilateral
trading system.  The proposal deserved the support  of all other WTO Members.  He noted that the
Secretariat had circulated the Foreign Trade Regime Memorandum of Sudan on 26 January 1999 and
Members had been requested to submit their questions by 1 March 1999.  However, his delegation
had so far not received any questions and he urged Members to consider the document and submittheir questions so that the accession process of Sudan could continue.
14. The representative of Djibouti shared the concern expressed by the representative of Haiti
regarding the coordination between the six Agencies most closely involved in the Integrated
Framework process.  The LDCs were countries in  which there was a lack of coordination between
different ministries and the private sector.  He asked how the LDCs could be assisted if there was alsoa lack of coordination among the six Agencies that had the task of assisting the LDCs in their internal
coordination.  By way of example, the newly arrived Resident Representative of the UNDP in
Djibouti seemed not to be aware of the fact that the UNDP was responsible for the coordination
among the six Agencies in Djibouti to help it prepare its trade-related sectoral round-table.
15. The representative of Nepal noted that, in the preparations for the 1997 High-Level Meeting,
the issues of ownership and coordination had emerged strongly.  As a result, the group of LDCs in
Geneva and in capitals had played a leading and proactive role prior to the High-Level Meeting, and
in making the Meeting a success.  He noted that to date, out of the 21 LDCs which had expressed an
interest in organizing a round-table, only one round-table had been held and two were at advanced
stages of preparation.  That was not much, but it  nevertheless showed that the process was ongoing.
What had been agreed at the High-Level Meeting was that that Meeting was not a final point but a
point in a process.  There was therefore no reason to be disheartened as long as the process continued.Nonetheless there were a few issues that should be addressed.  The preparation of the trade-sector
round-table at the LDC level had emerged as the most  important point in the follow-up process.  In
this connection, his delegation had suggested that the Secretariats of the three Geneva-based agencies
(ITC, UNCTAD and WTO) should develop a model for delegations and Governments to refer to.  He
therefore appreciated the idea of the model document that, according to Mrs. Blank, was beingprepared by the six Agencies.  The second issue was the question of coordination.  When one of the
six Agencies was designated to lead the process of preparing for the trade-sector round-table, it should
be clear that it was a joint process in which all the six Agencies were involved.  In this area, his
delegation had experienced a certain degree of imbalance.  Technical assistance was a third important
element agreed upon at the High-Level Meeting.
16. The representative of Nepal continued by emphasizing that the High-level Meeting would not
have taken place without the Decision of Ministers at Singapore to address the problem of
marginalization of a group of countries, the LDCs, which remained more or less outside the
framework of the evolving multilateral trading system. There was a need to integrate these countries
into the multilateral trading system in order for it  to be meaningful to society as a whole.  TheWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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High-Level Meeting had been one subsequent action in that process.  The reasons why the LDCs
could not fully make use of the benefits that the multilateral trading system offered extended beyond
lack of trade-related technical assistance. It was therefore critical that the UNDP and the World Bank
remained heavily involved in the process of the trade-sector donor meetings.  If the process was to
carry on the enthusiasm that emerged from Singapore, and if it was to be credible, it was critical thatthe process be expedited before the Third Ministerial Conference.
17. The representative of Switzerland noted that the document and the discussion had stressed the
importance of coordination.  The Integrated Framework was a universe of multiple overlapping
activities.  Coordination was important, but it should not be an end in itself.  Coordination needed to
be lean, effective and efficient, but most importantly, it should be result-oriented.  Practical projects
and programmes had to be delivered in the field.  However, it should be kept in mind that
coordination absorbed lots of resources on the side of the donors, and of agencies at the country and atthe international levels.  Second, pending the trade-sector round-table meetings, technical assistance
had to continue, and at the same time the process of holding trade-sector round-tables should be
speeded up.  The different approaches should be consolidated in order to integrate the projects under
one umbrella.  The idea of creating model documentation that could be used by other countries was
the right approach.  Ownership and demand-drivenness were important aspects and the responsibilitywas shared between the Agencies and the governments of the countries concerned.  Lastly, paragraph
eight of the Third Progress Report referred to the holding of 18 national seminars of which three were
undertaken with the participation of ITC.  He wished to know what the criteria were for the
participation of ITC.  His Government stood behind  the whole approach of the Integrated Framework.
The progress report and the discussion helped to focus the process, to smooth out certain wrinkles andto speed it up.
18. The representative of Norway said that her delegation was encouraged by the progress and the
number of LDCs that had prepared needs-assessments and indicated an interest in calling for
trade-related round-table meetings.  Furthermore, it was most useful that obstacles were identified and
concrete proposals made regarding possible remedies.  Her delegation thus supported the approachfollowed in the Secretariat report and wished to en courage the Secretariat to continue to prepare that
kind of progress reports specifying progress made, obstacles identified and possible ways to further
improve the process.
19. The representative of European Communities said, in response to the question of accession
raised by the delegate of Sudan, that the proposal by the European Communities had been tabled on
25 February 1999 in the General Council.  The proposal was intended to accelerate the process of
accession with specific focus on the LDCs.
20. The representative of the Secretariat said that the Sub-Committee meeting was an occasion to
exchange views in order to get the wrinkles out of the process and make progress.  With respect to the
criticism of the involvement of some of the agencies she mentioned that on her previous visit to Haiti
her discussions with the World Bank representative had given her the impression that he had
understood his role and had shown himself cooperative.  The problems had to be considered on acase-by-case and country-by-country basis to see what concrete steps could be taken to ensure
continued involvement of the six Agencies.  The UNDP, the World Bank and the IMF were involved
just as much in the Integrated Framework as were ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO.  She recalled that
the strength of the Integrated Framework was its use of the comparative advantage of each agency.
One of the advantages of UNDP and the World Bank was that they had field offices all over the worldand that they had the experience of organizing round-tables in the countries.  Even if it was not a rigid
rule, the six Agencies considered to make best use of their respective strengths and expertise by
designating in principle the field offices of the UNDP and the World Bank to assist in organizing
round-tables.  Whether it was the UNDP or the World Bank had to be decided by the government.
This did of course not preclude ITC, UNCTAD a nd WTO to assist LDCs to organize their round-WT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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tables; they had assisted and would continue to do so.  To address the problem of involvement, the six
Agencies had agreed to suggest to requesting governments to call a meeting in the country to get all
stakeholders around the table.  A representative of one of the six Agencies, or of the Administrative
Unit would participate in this "launching meeting" to explain the objectives of the Integrated
Framework.  She recalled WTO's specialized technical assistance to those countries and that she hadherself gone to the Sudan as part of such a specialized technical assistance mission.
21. In relation to the question of how to measure success under the Integrated Framework, the
representative of the Secretariat suggested that one way of doing so might be by counting the number
of round-tables organized before the Third Ministerial Conference.  However, one should also keep in
mind the principal objective of the Integrated Framework: the provision of effective trade-related
technical assistance.  As was mentioned in the third Progress Report, some trade-related technical
assistance activities were being carried out in anticipation of round-table meetings.  The ThirdProgress Report contained all the trade-related technical assistance activities carried out by the WTO
under the Integrated Framework to date.  She admitte d that the WTO was in a special position in that
respect as the WTO did not normally need a round-table in order to carry out its trade-related
technical cooperation in the LDCs.  However, the other five agencies were also carrying out various
activities under the Integrated Framework, anticipating future trade-related sectoral round-tablemeetings.  The Administrative Unit was in the pr ocess of compiling information regarding the trade-
related technical assistance carried out by the six Agencies under the Integrated Framework.  Such
information would, at a later stage, be put on the Integrated Framework website.  Round-tables were
important as they endorsed programmes of trade-related technical assistance ensuring synergies and
avoiding overlap.  However, that did not mean that all trade-related technical assistance was stopped
until such round-tables were held.  On the question of ITC's participation in WTO national seminars,
she said that this was usually determined by the nature of the technical assistance requested.
22. The representative of the ITC said that the general principle used for determining ITC's
participation was the existence of an immediate benef it to the enterprise level and of an ITC follow-up
programme.  If there seemed to be a direct link to trade promotion, ITC would normally join the WTOnational seminars.
23. The representative of Japan said that his authorities were well aware of the developmental
questions discussed in the Sub-Committee on LDCs and in the Committee on Trade and
Development.  This had been demonstrated by Japan's early reply to the questionnaire on special and
differential treatment provisions.  His authorities had experienced difficulties with respect to the
documentation prepared for the round-tables.  Certain documents had been issued in languages which
were not familiar in his capital.  In the Japanese case, the most familiar foreign language was English.Since his authorities accorded high interest to the issues, his delegation would appreciate if a
summary of each section of the documentation prep ared for round-tables were given in English.  As
the donor meetings were demand-driven, his delegation first requested the countries preparing for
such meetings to prepare the documentation in other WTO languages in order to have significant
meetings.
24. The Chairman said that there seemed to be general agreement that the Third Progress Report,
the presentation and the following discussion were useful in that they not only dealt with what was
going well, but also pointed out the obstacles and constructively addressed ways of getting around
them.  One of the points raised which had also been taken on board by the Secretariat was the
question of coordination.  It was no news that organi zations might not always be able to cooperate in
the ways they had signed on to do or that there might not be total transparency of information within
one organization from headquarters to the field and vice versa.  It was important to be aware of that
and to address it.   It was useful to be reminded of the fact that there might not be total coordination
within donor countries either, including between the parts of the national administrations dealing with
trade and those dealing with aid.  Second, it was useful to be reminded that although there wereWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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problems, there was also progress and that progress was not only the actual holding of trade-sector
round-tables, but also progress in the delivery of trade-related technical assistance.  It would be useful
to continue to get reports similar to the Third Progress Report which did not only point out the
successes but also the problems, thus initiating discussions that would actually move the process
forward.
25. Before moving to the next Agenda Item the Chairman welcomed Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, the
new Special Coordinator of UNCTAD for Least Developed, Land-locked and Island Developing
Countries, to her first Sub-Committee meeting.
B. ADDRESS BY MR. GRANT TAPLIN OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND ON THE ROLE
OF THE FUND IN THE INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK
26. The Chairman welcomed Mr. Grant Taplin, Acting Director of the International Monetary
Fund's Office in Geneva.
27. The statement made by Mr. Grant Taplin is annexed to this report.
28. The representative of Tanzania sought clarification on the role of the IMF in assisting LDCs
to become viable trading nations.  Most LDCs were required to pay off their debt obligations.
Tanzania, for example, was supposed to pay about 40 per cent of its revenue collection to service its
debt.  Forty per cent was not a small amount considering that Tanzania was a poor country.  Tanzaniawas at the same time encouraged to liberalize trade which meant that the Government of Tanzania
was not even able to utilise the small amount of revenue that it could receive through customs.  Even
though the measures were intended to increase the capacity of LDCs to trade, the LDCs did not have
the structures necessary to take advantage of increased trade.  There was a conflict of interest in that
liberalizing trade led to lower government revenue while at the same time the LDCs were supposed topay off debts.  That in turn increased poverty and did not make LDCs viable trading nations.  He
asked what the ideas of the IMF were to address that issue.
29. The representative of Djibouti asked how trade and economic progress could be envisaged for
LDCs in which eighty to ninety per cent of their internal resources went to debt repayments.
30. The representative of Nepal said that his de legation welcomed the IMF's involvement in the
Integrated Framework, as well as the involvement of the World Bank and UNDP as specifically
mandated.  Trade was related to the larger macro-economic performance of a country and unless that
performance was enhanced there was no possibility of significantly increasing the trade performance
of LDCs.  He asked Mr. Taplin to elaborate on that linkage, beyond the standard policy prescriptions
that the IMF was known to have.
31. The representative of Uganda said that it was true that the IMF had played an important role
and that appropriate macro-economic policies were in place in several countries, including Uganda.
Inflation had been tamed for example, but the result s did not tally with the sacrifices made by the
LDCs.  For example, there were no domestic savings to talk about, foreign direct investment was
hardly seen and the LDCs continued with structural adjustment programmes while the people on the
streets could not see the results.  The debt-problem crippled the development of the LDCs as the little
revenue that the LDCs gained was taken away.  There was therefore need for continued coherencebetween the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank to ensure that that problem was alleviated.
32. Mr. Taplin said that the questions posed were pertinent in looking at the overall development
stance and direction that countries could or should take in the global setting, in part with a view to
making individual countries more viable trading nations.  The debt issue was not something that could
be resolved on the spot.  It had engaged the thinking and the polemic of many countries over manyWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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years.  He said he wished to underscore the importance of an international approach to the debt issue.
Concrete steps in that direction had been taken.  He recalled the so called HIPC (Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries) initiative which was a concrete step taken by the international community to try to
deal with the debt issue.  This had been put in place in 1995/1996 and half a dozen countries had gone
through the rather lengthy process covering up to six years.  The HIPC initiative was based on acountry-by-country approach.  The amount of debt relief to be sought through the initiative was
closely linked to the economic and financial structure of the country and its debt profile.  The goal
was to bring internal and external indebtedness to a sustainable level.  A variety of indicators that
were used to assess the degree of sustainability of the economy's debt profile.  Some of those
indicators included the level of debt compared to GDP and the scheduled debt servicing payments
compared to export proceeds.  It was a rather complex calculation, but the bottom line was that there
was no magic figure of 20 per cent or 30 per cent of a country's export receipts that should be ear-marked for debt servicing, nor was there a certain amount of central government revenue that should
be earmarked for debt servicing.  It was a country-specific process engaging the country as well as its
international partners, mainly the World Bank a nd the IMF.  The HIPC initiative resembled the
Integrated Framework process in that it had not moved forward fast enough.  The HIPC initiative was
reviewed on a regular basis by the staff and the Ex ecutive Boards of the two institutions, and by the
Ministerial oversight body of the IMF, the Interim Committee.  Proposals had been forthcoming on
how to make the HIPC initiative faster and larger in terms of relief.  There was a wealth of
information on the HIPC initiative and other information about debt relief on the Fund's website
(http://www.imf.org).  The Fund's office in Geneva was also available to delegations for dialogue on a
bilateral basis.
33. The question had been raised of whether there was a contradiction between customs reform
and allowing a country to use its central government revenue.  The objective of customs reform was
to make the customs function in an efficient way.  It was not to diminish revenue but to enhance
coherence between a country's imports and import capacity and what it generated in central
government revenue.  There was potential in that area and the aim of technical assistance was toimprove administrative procedures for goods to flow  in in a regular fashion, to assure prompt and
equitable levy of import levies, to assure that exemptions were kept within reasonable boundaries.  It
was an element which fitted well into the Integrated Responses of the Integrated Framework.  He
would leave aside the question of whether extensive structural adjustment really born fruit.  Seminars
had engaged experts for weeks on that particular issue.  Internal IMF assessments of the instrument of
financial support to countries undergoing struct ural adjustment (Enhanced Structural Adjustment
Facility, ESAF) were available.  He also referred interested Members to an external assessment on the
ESAF process which was available on the IMF website.
34. The Chairman said that the discussion had been yet another example of the usefulness of
having representatives of the six Agencies giving information about their activities under the
Integrated Framework.  It might therefore be useful to continue to invite, from time to time, and as the
Sub-Committee found appropriate, representatives of the six Agencies.
C. UP-DATE ON THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK INTERNET
HOME -PAGE (WWW .LDCS .ORG)
35. The Chairman said that at the last meeting of the Sub-Committee, the Secretariat had been
requested to circulate a document providing up-to-date information on Focal Points under the
Integrated Framework.  The Administrative Unit had recently provided the WTO Secretariat withdetails on the Focal Points received to date from LDCs themselves as well as their bilateral and
multilateral development partners.  That information, supplied upon a request by the Administrative
Unit, was contained in document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/14.  He pointed out that information on the
Integrated Framework Web-page would always be in advance of anything printed.  He had therefore
taken the initiative to invite Mr. Francesco Geoffroy of the Integrated Framework Administrative UnitWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
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to provide the Sub-Committee with an up-date on the information available on that site.  The
Integrated Framework Home-page should be a useful  tool for all delegations and organizations that
wished to monitor progress in the follow-up.
36. Mr. Geoffroy of the Administrative Unit said that all the information given at that meeting by
Ms. Blank and Mr. Taplin was available on the Integrated Framework website as well.  The
information on the website was organized at the country level and the website provided an up-date of
the operations under the Integrated Framework.  The information was updated every two to three days
in light of developments in the implementation of  Integrated Framework activities.  Information
available included the needs-assessments prepared by the individual LDCs and the Integrated
Responses to those by the six Agencies.  By the end of March, the status of the implementation of the
activities that the six Agencies had committed themselves to in the Integrated Responses would be
available as well.  The website also contained information about trade-sector round-table meetings inthe individual LDCs.  Currently trade-sector ro und-table meetings were planned for 21 LDCs.  Once
the information was made available to the Administrative Unit, the documentation for those trade-
sector round-table meetings was put on the Web as well.  It was thus easy for donors, multilateral
agencies and other concerned parties to access that information.  The Integrated Framework website
was operated by the Administrative Unit of the six Agencies which was physically located in the ITC.A brochure about the Integrated Framework had also been developed by the Administrative Unit.  The
brochure, available in English and French, contained the web-address and information about the type
of information available on the website.  Concerning the information requested by the Sub-Committee
at its previous meeting in November, information about Focal Points had been collected for
21 countries.  The document distributed did not contain the Focal Point of Burundi which had justbeen received by the Administrative Unit.  He in vited the LDCs that had not yet communicated details
regarding their Focal Points, and which therefore were not listed in the document, to do so as soon as
possible.  That would also help speed up any preparatory activity for the holding of trade-sector
round-table meetings.
37. Concerning multilateral partners, Focal Points had been communicated for the ten
organizations which had expressed an interest in participating in the Integrated Framework.  They
included the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Asian Development Bank, the
Commonwealth Secretariat, the Common Fund for Commodities, the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the Forum Secretariat,
the International Standards Organization, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and
the World Customs Organizations.  He thanked those organizations for having provided the
Administrative Unit with information on their trade-related activities in the LDCs.  That once againdemonstrated the close collaboration established by the international community under the Integrated
Framework.  Information on Focal Points had also been received from six bilateral partners: Canada,
Germany, Japan, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.  Discussions we re ongoing with other
bilateral partners.  It was particularly important for the functioning of the Integrated Framework
process that the major bilateral partners of the LDCs appointed Focal Points and reported them to theAdministrative Unit.  The Integrated Framework website was important in the process of enlarging
the Integrated Responses of the six Agencies to include information provided to the Administrative
Unit by bilateral donors and other multilateral and regional agencies.  The website was a tool for
sharing information with all parties involved in th e preparation of trade-sector round-table meetings in
specific LDCs.  Information submitted to the Administrative Unit for the website would quickly beavailable to anybody wanting to consult it.  He invited all interested to use the website and to
encourage any field-staff to do the same to facilitate the exchange of information.
38. The representative of Switzerland said that the Integrated Framework website was good and
helpful.  It was useful for the purposes of follow-up on the monitoring and reporting.  Nonetheless,
the website had its limits with regard to monitoring and reporting in that it was factual and could notreflect the qualitative assessments of the type found in the Third Progress Report.  The website couldWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
Page 10
thus not replace other instruments in keeping track of activities under the Integrated Framework.
Switzerland did have a Focal Point, the coordinates of which would be submitted.
39. The representative of the European Communities wished to know if the Administrative Unit
had any information regarding the use of the Integrated Framework website.
40. Mr. Geoffroy said that the Administrative Unit already had received a communication from
the Government of Switzerland regarding its trade- related technical assistance to LDCs and he was
pleased to hear that the last missing information regarding the Focal Point was forthcoming.  As
regarded the feed-back on the use of the website he said that the website had been operational since
September 1998 and had, since then, received 6,200 hits.  A number of enquires had also been
addressed to the Administrative Unit through the website from Focal Points and other parties.  The
website had become a useful working tool and a wa y of advancing the Integrated Framework process.
Information was exchanged with the LDCs, the six Agencies and other development partnersincluding mainly the multilateral and regional agencies and more recently the bilateral partners of the
LDCs.  It would be a further advantage if not only Geneva-based delegations used it, but also people
in capitals and in field-offices of multilateral and regional organizations.
41. The Chairman said that the Integrated Framework website was only one example of the good
and effective work being carried out by the Administrative Unit.  He thanked the Administrative Unit
for the work in this and other respects.  For example, the number of hits to the Integrated Framework
website would correspond to something between 30 and 40 per day.  One could see its usefulness by
imagining answering 30-40 telephone calls a day for documentation which was now on the website.
He also noted the useful disciplinary function which came from showing publicly who had and who
might not yet have deposited the requisite information.  He had noted that his own Government hadnot submitted the information on Focal Points; this was a good opportunity for him to go back to his
capital and get the information and for other countries to do the same.  No website could be better
than the information that was being fed into it.  It was therefore, to that extent, dependent on what all
Members did to help.  Nevertheless, the website could provide more up-to-date information than
would be possible if one were simply to rely on the usual printed media.
III. STATUS REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT REGARDING THE COMPILATION
OF EXISTING MARKET ACCESS INFORMATION
42. The Chairman recalled that, at its previous meeting, the Sub-Committee had taken note of his
suggestion that the Secretariat should be requested to collate existing information on market access by
LDC so that such information would be readily available to Members that wished to have an
overview.  He understood that the Secretariat was working on the compilation of market access
information by LDC and that it was ready to inform the Sub-Committee on progress in that work.
43. A representative of the Secretariat said that the Secretariat had been asked to collate existing
market access conditions that individual LDCs faced in major markets.  The starting-point had been
document WT/LDC/HL/14 and Add.1 in which the Secretariat previously had identified, on an
aggregate basis, the market access barriers in 23 major markets affecting the 112 leading products of
export interest to LDCs as a group.  However, the full detail of information that the Secretariat couldget at the level of individual LDCs and specific markets was not available from that document.
Consequently, the Secretariat would build on it, but had to complement it with other information
available in the Secretariat on tariffs, including MFN, GSP, LDC- and other preferential rates and the
information contained in the notifications made by Members on market access in favour of LDCs.
The product base which the Secretariat proposed to use would initially be any HS 6-digit itemimported into any market from any individual LDC, so that for each LDC, the same items would be
examined for all markets.  In that way the Secretar iat expected to be able to give an accurate and
up-to-date picture on an individual country basis for each LDC of its principal export structure and theWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
Page 11
market access conditions that those products faced in the 23 markets already identified in
WT/LDC/HL/14 and Add.1.  As a practic al way of working, the Secretariat would start looking at the
29 LDCs which were WTO Members as a first step in order to make the exercise manageable.  Once
the paper was done it would be circulated in draf t form to all Members in volved for comments and
verification.
44. The representative of Djibouti asked whether it was possible to get an estimate of the number
of Members, including developing country Members, which had notified the announcements of
increased market access for LDC exports that they had made at the High-Level Meeting on LDC.
45. A representative of the Secretariat said that the Secretariat had received notifications of
increased market access for LDC exports from Canada, Egypt, the European Communities, Mauritius,
Switzerland, Turkey and the United States.
46. The representative of the European Communitie s said that her delegation looked forward to
seeing the market access document in preparation by the Secretariat.  She suggested, that in view of
the High-Level Symposium on Trade and Development, it could be considered whether it would be
useful to derestrict existing documents which had been well received and which were useful, such as
document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11 Rev.1* in English entitled "Market Access for Exports of Goods
and Services of the Least-Developed Countries:  Barriers and Constraints"1 and
WT/COMTD/LDC/W/10 entitled "Implementation of WTO Agreements: Survey of the Difficulties
Faced By Least-Developed Countries and the Current Response".  Those documents had helped
delegations and had constituted the basis for progress in the their  understanding of the issues.  In view
of the fact that a broader audience would attend the High-Level Symposium on Trade and
Development and that all the stakeholders should have a similar basis for information, she suggestedthat the two documents be derestricted.
47. The representative of Tanzania referred to the paragraph 25 of the Third Progress Report.  He
thanked the delegations which had already notified increased market access opportunities for LDC
exports.  In that paragraph, the issue of an umbrella waiver was mentioned.  That issue was to be
discussed at the Meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development of 2 March 1999.  Hisdelegation expressed concern regarding the difficulties the draft umbrella waiver had encountered so
far in the CTD.  He urged the delegations to support the umbrella waiver at the meeting of the CTD.
48. The representative of Mexico referred to document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11 Rev.1* in
English entitled "Market Access for Exports of Goods and Services of the Least-Developed
Countries:  Barriers and Constraints".  Section VI I of that document related to "Opportunities in
Emerging Markets for LDCs' Exports of Goods and Se rvices".  Sub-section (c) related to devaluation
and the pressure resulting from the Asian financial crisis on countries of that region, including theimpact on opportunities for market access in favour of LDCs.  It gave examples of Latin American
countries, including Mexico.  According to the Secretariat, there were internal anti-dumping and
safeguard mechanisms that had been strengthened in relation to the imports from countries with
depreciated or devalued currencies.  His delegation did not find that objective since it seemed to
suggest that the only imports came from countries with devalued currencies and that countries such asMexico applied safeguards or anti-dumping measures in relation to products originating in LDCs.
Mexico did not apply any safeguard or anti-dumping measure on products originating in the LDCs.
His delegation therefore requested that the name of Mexico be deleted from the footnote relating to
sub-section (c) of Section VII.
49. The Chairman said that the Secretariat would be looking at the wording and seek to adjust the
formulation by way of a corrigendum so that it did not create any false impressions.  The Chairman
                                                     
*WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11 in the French and Spanish versions.WT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
Page 12
said that the documents proposed for derestriction were WT/COMTD/LDC/W/10 and
WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11 Rev.1*2 with the Secretariat correction.
50. The representative of Mexico said that his delegation was appreciative of the proposal made
by the European Communities; however, his delegation had to verify with its authorities.  He
therefore suggested that his delegation would give its final opinion on the matter at the meeting of theCommittee on Trade and Development scheduled for 2 March 1999.
51. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation did not have any difficulty with the
proposal by the European Communities.  However, his delegation considered that if the documents
were to be derestricted, they should be supplemented by a derestriction of the Minutes of the
discussions that had taken place in the Sub-Committee in relation to those documents.  That would
complete the picture for those who would have access to the reports.
52. The representative of Brazil said that his delegation had to seek guidance from his authorities
in order to give an opinion on the proposal by the European Communities.  He suggested that the
matter be taken up in the Committee on Trade and Development at its meeting scheduled for
2 March 1999.
53. The Chairman said that there were two proposals.  First, certain delegations had requested for
more time to consider the question and therefore to revert to the matter at the meeting of the
Committee on Trade and Development the following day.  Second, a suggestion was made to
derestrict the relevant Minutes at the same time.  There was some merit in the suggestion, as the
papers as such, were papers prepared by the Secretariat, which were to serve as the basis for
discussions.  If it had been possible for those papers to be transmitted to the General Council it was
partly because they had been supplemented with the points delegations had made during discussions.Delegations should therefore not only consider the derestriction of the documents, but also of the
Minutes pertaining to them.  The documents containing the Minutes in question were
WT/COMTD/LDC/M/13 and WT/COMTD/LDC/M/14.  The Sub-Committee on Least-Developed
Countries, being a subsidiary body to the Committee on Trade and Development, could ask the
Committee on Trade and Development to take that decision on its behalf.
54. It was so agreed.
IV. OTHER BUSINESS
55. The Chairman said that the following meeting of the Sub-Committee tentatively had been
scheduled for 15 June 1999.  However, it was reasonable to expect that the final decision would be
taken in consultation with new Chairperson, who was yet to be elected.
                                                     
* WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11 in the French and Spanish versions.WT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
Page 13
ANNEX
Statement by the Fund Representative3
THE PARTICIPATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND IN THE
INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES’
TRADE DEVELOPMENT
1 March 1999
It is a pleasure to be given the opportunity of informing this meeting of the Fund’s active
participation in the Integrated Framework of the Least-Developed Countries’ Trade Development.  Ican confirm that the Fund is fully committed to the effective implementation of the Integrated
Framework, and to that end has played an active role in the follow-up process to the High-Level
Meeting held here in Geneva, in October 1997 (indeed, the Fund recently hosted in Washington an
inter-agency working group meeting). The Fund fully endorses the initiative as conceived at the WTO
Ministerial Conference, held in Singapore in December 1996, which called on aid agencies,multilateral financial institutions and least-developed countries (LDCs) to promote “an integrated
approach to assisting these countries in enhancing their trading opportunities”.
Although the Fund itself does not provide a large amount of technical assistance directly
related to trade, the Fund’s advice on economic policies, as well as technical assistance provided onfiscal, monetary and statistical issues, are recognized as creating a more favorable macroeconomic
environment that will enable these countries to participate more actively in the global trading system.
It is on these two areas - the macroeconomic policy advice and the technical assistance provided by
the Fund - that I wish to elaborate.
Firstly and most importantly, with respect to the macroeconomic policy environment, it is the
view of the Fund that least-developed countries need to try to achieve both macroeconomic stability
and outward-oriented trade policies in order to develop their trade potential and participate in the
global expansion of trade and capital flows.  Without a more stable macroeconomic environment,
reforms such as trade facilitation, enhanced trade-related technical assistance, improved infrastructure,institutional development and new technologies are unlikely to lead to an adequate supply response.
In general, appropriate fiscal, monetary and exchange rate polices facilitate export growth by
improving the overall stability of the economy, improving incentives for private sector development,
maintaining market-based prices for production activ ities, ensuring that exports are competitive and
helping attract foreign direct investment.  The hallmarks of a trade-friendly macroeconomic
environment include low fiscal and current account deficits, low inflation, competitive exchange rates,
and high savings rates.
However, in addition to macroeconomic stability , LDCs need to reform their trade regimes in
order to reduce impediments to trade and to boost export growth.  Available data for LDCs indicate
that their trade regimes are generally more restrictive than those in the fast-growing developing
country exporters.  This underlines the need for comprehensive trade reform in support of tradedevelopment.  A regime that promotes trade is one with reasonably low and uniform tariff protection
and few or no restrictions on imports or expo rts, including particularly QRs and other NTBs.
Simplicity and transparency are also important elements of an appropriate trade regime.
                                                     
3 Mr. Grant Taplin, IMF Office in GenevaWT/COMTD/LDC/M/15
Page 14
The Fund’s central role in member countries in supporting policies that promote
macroeconomic stability is closely linked to trade development.  In addition, structural reforms,
including trade policy reform, are important elements of Fund-supported programs and surveillance
activities.  The Fund’s approach to trade development is to integrate trade reform (and other structural
policies) with comprehensive macroeconomic adjustment (including appropriate fiscal, monetary andexchange rate policies), taking into account the many links between trade and macroeconomic
performance.  In a recent Executive Board Seminar, directors observed that the Fund, in close
cooperation with the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO), should strongly support
trade liberalization among its members.  Twenty-four least-developed countries have completed at
least two years of Fund-supported programs since 1994, of which 17 had programs that contained
significant elements of trade policy.  These countries’ programs contained trade-related structural
benchmarks, or the completion of a review that was conditional on trade policy measures.
As already mentioned, the Fund is not a major provider of trade-related technical assistance.
However, it does provide assistance in some specific areas which are particularly pertinent to trade
facilitation, and Executive Directors have recently endorsed the view that the Fund should stand ready
to provide additional technical assistance, especially if administrative capacity is limited.  Notably,within the purview of fiscal advice, technical assistance can be provided to improve customs
legislation, regulation, valuation, and overall administration.  Also, advice is given in statistical issues
relating to the balance of payments, such as strengthening the compilation of export and import
statistics.
The Fund takes very seriously the need to disseminate information on progress on
implementation of commitments given in principle as incorporated in the “Integrated Responses” as
compiled by the six Agencies and in response to the needs assessments submitted by the LDCs.  We
consider that an adequate information flow among all developing partners is imperative to ensure an
integrated approach to assistance, which was one of the key objectives of the Initiative.  In thisrespect, the Fund has been the first agency to make available to the Administrative Unit a status report
on implementation, and I can inform the meeting that to date, the Fund is currently undertaking - or
has given a commitment in principle to provide - t echnical assistance to 32 of the 40 countries that
have submitted a “needs assessment” of their technical assistance requirements.  Moreover, during
1998 technical assistance has been provided by the Fund in areas such as modernization of customs
administration, strengthening the compilation of export and import statistics, as well as trade reform
and tariff rationalization.  It is noteworthy that in providing technical assistance in these areas, the
Fund frequently cooperates closely with UNDP, UNCTAD, WCO, the World Bank, and bilateral
agencies.
The Fund staff actively participated in the recent meeting of the Interagency Working Group
related to the HLM, held in Washington, February 16-17, 1999.  At this point, we were particularlyheartened by the progress made to date in the formulation of integrated responses for a total of
40 countries, and by the steps envisaged to move countries to the round table stage as quickly as
possible, and as detailed in the Secretariat’s paper WT/COMTD/LDC/W/13.
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