WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/128
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5312)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
NAMIBIA
Statement bytheHonourable Hidipo Hamutenya
Minister ofTrade andIndustry
Iwould like,firstofall,toexpress, sincere gratitude totheGovernment andpeople ofSingapore
fortheirgenerous hospitality andexcellent facilities thattheyhavemade available toensure asmooth
running ofthishistoric Ministerial Conference oftheWTO.
Secondly, Iwould liketocommend ourChairman fortheableandbusiness-like manner in
which theConference isbeing conducted.
There isnodoubt thatwithout thegreatskillandconsiderable patience thatourChairman has
demonstrated, wewould nothaveachieved thekindofheadway thatwehavemade overthelastthree
daysinbuilding confidence among ourselves andthatthedifferences, which have arisen, arenot
unbridgeable.
Namibia attaches greatimportance tothisfirstMinisterial Conference because ithasprovided
uswithagood opportunity, since theMarrakesh Meeting, toreview progress made intheeffort to
consolidate theWTO 'sposition asthekeyinternational body overseeing andpromoting world trade.
TheConference has,inotherwords, brought ustogether toassess theextent towhich theOrganization 's
birthpangs havebeenstilled andthevision ofatrulymultilateral trading system maintained.
Inthisregard,wehavenoted,withsatisfaction,thattheDirector-Generalandhisteamofofficials
havecontinued, overthelasttwoyears, tochart thecourse oftheWTO forward bysustaining the
trade liberalization momentum, andthere isevidence thattariffs onindustrial products arecoming
down insome oftherichcountries. Asaresult, world trade isbeginning toboom, having grown
by8percentinvolume terms lastyear. Another cause forcelebration hasbeen thespeedy
institutionalization oftheWTO mechanisms forthesettling oftrade disputes. Wehavelearned, in
thisconnection, thatmore than60cases havebeenbrought before thedispute resolution panels, and
thatabout aquarter ofthisnumber ofcases hasbeensettled. Allthisisveryencouraging, indeed.
Whilenotingwithappreciationtheprogressbeingrecorded,weremainmindfulofthe"unfinished
business" oftheUruguay Round thatawaits tobecompleted.
Wemust takethisopportunity toreaffirm ourcommitment andreadiness tomove forward
withreduction oftrade restrictions which stillstifle international commerce inagriculture, services
andmovement ofnatural persons. Thus far,wehavemade progress inliberalizing trade inindustrial
products. Yet,most oftheeconomies ofthedeveloping countries arestilllocked in,andcontinue
todepend heavily ontheexportation ofprimary agricultural commodities. Therefore, unless there
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isprogress intheefforts tofurther liberalize trade inagricultural products, theliberalization oftrade
within theWTO framework willhaveminimal effects ontheeconomies ofthedeveloping countries.
Failing todothisintheshort andmedium terms, thetwinprocess ofliberalization and
globalization oftheworld economy willresult infurther marginalization oftheless-developed countries,
themajority ofwhich areinAfrica. These countries needtosecure afairshare ofinternational trade.
Wewishtoassociate ourselves withthesentiments expressed bymany delegations thatwe
should concentrate ourefforts ontheimplementation ofthecommitments made atMarrakesh; and
thatthebroadening oftheWTO agenda, atthispoint intime, toinclude whatareclearly contentious
"new issues" would beinappropriate asitwillfurther aggravate theburden anddifficulties weare
already experiencing inmeeting ourobligations asprovided forbythevarious agreements. Inthis
regard, itisimportant thattheWTO focuses itsattention primarily ontheimplementation ofthe
Multilateral Agreements aswellasongiving newimpetus tothebuilt-in agenda towhich wehave
already committed ourselves atMarrakesh. Weshould trytoreach finality onthoseunfinished business.
Asregards theso-called newissues, ourviews, asreflected inthejointSADC statement, remain
thesame. Weareaware oftheimportance ofthese issues. Similarly, wedorecognize theserious
implications some ofthese issues mayhaveonoursociety, bothsocially andeconomically. Butwe
areconvinced these should belefttotherelevant agencies tohandle.
Webelieve thatmatters relating toinvestment andcompetition policy areverycomplex and
dorequire further study primarily byUNCTAD inconsultations withrelevant international agencies.
Equally, wevalue therights ofourworkers andarecommitted totheobservance oflabour
standards asasignatory totheILOConventions. However, theNamibian delegation, likemany other
delegations whospoke earlier, holds thesame viewthattheappropriate forum todealwiththismatter
istheILO. Inourcountry there isaclear division oflabour regarding thetrade andlabour issues.
TheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry deals withtrade matters while theMinistry ofLabour deals with
labour matters. Thelatter Ministry hasthenecessary expertise andtheinstitutional mechanism todeal
withlabour issues.
Despite thedifferent positions expressed byMember countries, Iamconfident thatwewill
beabletoreach asolution intheinterest ofthemultilateral trading system thatwehaveestablished
tooversee andpromote world trade.
Letmeconclude byreaffirming myGovernment 'sfirmcommitment totheobjectives ofthe
WTO.
Ihope thattheoutcome ofourdeliberations willgiveanewimpetus tothefuture work of
theWTO.