WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/18
30 November 1999
(99-5198)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third Session
Seattle, 30 November – 3 December 1999Original: English
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Statement by Mr. Michel Camdessus
Managing-Director
(Speaking as an Observer)
I am very pleased to address this third Ministerial Conference of the WTO, and especially to
have the opportunity to congratulate Mike Moore as he assumes the leadership of the Organization at
this important period for the development of world trade.
The IMF's Articles of Agreement identify as one of our key purposes, "to facilitate the
expansion and balanced growth of international trad e, and to contribute thereby to the promotion and
maintenance of high levels of employment".  In pursuing this mandate the IMF, in addition to its
policy dialogue with its 182 members, also finds key synergies with the WTO and the World Bank.
Our three institutions actively collaborate both to  advance the growth of world trade and to achieve
coherence in global economic policy-making.  The joint statement by the heads of the three
organizations bears testimony to the importance of integrating international efforts in support of
global development strategies, a strong multilateral trading system, and a sound international
monetary and financial system.  But such collaboration is only a part of a broader coherence - in thepolicy-making of all members of the internationa l community - that brings trade together with
macroeconomic, financial and development policies into a cohesive whole.
We have a tremendous opportunity for progress at this very moment in time.  The crisis that
loomed so large little more than a year ago is behind us, a little more quickly than we dared to
anticipate, offering a window of opportunity to take  far-sighted actions for the long-term development
and stability of the international economy.  We must therefore take new steps to allow people to
achieve their potential.  That they can do only in  a growing economy.  The growth of trade has been
one of the main engines of economic growth in the extraordinary half-century now drawing to a close
- and further growth in trade will help sustain growth and reduce poverty, worldwide.
The world needs an ambitious, far-reaching global trade round for three compelling reasons:
to sustain the recovery of world economic activity; to support the continuing reform of the
international monetary and financial system;  and to deliver a major impetus in the global offensive on
poverty.  The international community has alread y taken many steps in these areas, acting in a
decisive cooperative fashion, in a spirit of enligh tened self-interest to strengthen the international
monetary and financial system.  This same spirit needs to be brought to the new round of tradenegotiations to carry forward the work on strengthening the international economy.  Let me elaborate
briefly.
First, we are now seeing a cyclical upturn in many parts of the world.  The recovery needs to
be sustained and broadened.  This is a golden opportunity to strengthen and prolong it to move to a
new level of high-quality growth and development.  Ministers, you know - and have proved - thatWT/MIN(99)/ST/18
Page 2
trade facilitates growth, and the transfer of knowledge and technology. In short, open economies
prosper.  Countries at all stages of development have demonstrated it time and again:  whether it was
undertaken within the negotiated multilateral setting of the WTO, or on a unilateral basis by the many
developing, transition and emerging market economies that have clearly recognized the potential of
more liberal trade.  Trade has been one of the main engines of world growth. Every country that hasgrown fast in the last half-century did so through a strategy of integration with the world economy
centered on trade.  And thankfully, even in the midst of the recent crisis - one of the greatest threats to
national and global prosperity in the past 50 years - countries resisted protectionist pressures.  But, it
is necessary now to go beyond a passive resistance to protectionism, and to initiate an ambitious
round of trade liberalization.
Second, far-sighted trade liberalization is an indispensable element in building a robust global
economic system for the long-term.  Without the foundation of more liberal trade, the efforts bygovernments and international agencies to strengthen the international monetary and financial
architecture will be rendered less effective.  In this work, we aspire to a sound international monetary
and financial system conducive to free, but orderly, international capital movements, based on sound
national financial systems and equitable, transparent policy-making.  But a world of more mobile
capital that is not accompanied by a regime of progressively more open, freer - and hence moreefficient - trade in goods and services, is a world that may become more vulnerable to the risk of
recurring crisis.
As a specific example, consider the benefits that would follow if the Round promotes further
liberalization of trade in financial services, and leads to an improved institutional framework for such
liberalization.  Competition in financial services, including from foreign sources, supported by asound modern regulatory and supervisory framework and sound macroeconomic policies, is a vital
source of dynamism for countries' financial sectors.   By encouraging modernization and by promoting
international standards and good risk management practices, this aspect of the new trade Round can
contribute directly to a more stable international system.
Third - and if I were to stress one point alone, this would be it - trade through its contribution
to sustained high-quality growth, is vital for the lasting reduction of poverty.  For poverty can be seen
as the ultimate systemic threat.  Ministers, your governments are committed to helping the developing
countries, especially the poorest, to integrate more fully into the world economy so as to promote
sustained growth and development.  To this e nd, the international community has actively endorsed
the enhancement of the Initiative for Heavily Indebt ed Poor Countries (HIPCs).  Imagine, of the
135 Members of the WTO, 74 have pledged support to the HIPC Initiative.  Your governments have
agreed to the establishment of the IMF's new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility focused on theneeds of the poorest.  And governments have repeatedly pledged to achieve many ambitious economic
and social objectives aimed at reducing poverty during the next 15 years, as I reminded the Annual
Meetings of the IMF two months ago.  But, even if all these initiatives are implemented fully, they
will be seriously weakened if the developing countries are not given the most fundamental
opportunity:  to produce and export a growing range of goods and services, to benefit from the highervolume of imports that would then be possible, and above all to realize two of the most basic of
human needs - the opportunity of employment and the availability of a "living wage".
That is why particular attention during this ne w trade Round must be brought to bear on the
developing countries, and their integration into the global trading system.  Their export potential,
particularly in agriculture, continues to face signif icant barriers in industrial country markets - for
example, tariff protection for agriculture in industrial country markets is some five times higher than
for manufacturers.  Providing unrestricted market access for all exports from the poorest countries,
including the HIPCs, should receive priority and be brought to an early resolution so that the poorest
countries can begin to benefit without delay.  They account for such a small proportion of world trade
- less than one half of one per cent - that such access would not be costly or unduly disruptive.WT/MIN(99)/ST/18
Page 3
In closing, let me simply reiterate that it is only through a truly cooperative approach - one
that ensures that trade, development, macroeconomic and financial policies are mutually supporting -
that we will be able to make lasting progress on the most pressing issue facing humanity at the end of
the 20th century - reducing poverty.  Let us work together to this end.
__________