RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/M/11
22November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4975)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
Eleventh Session
NOTE ONTHE MEETING OF4OCTOBER 1996
Chairman: Mr.Nacer Benjelloun-Touimi (Morocco)
A. Adoption oftheAgenda
1. TheCommittee adopted thefollowing agenda:
A. Adoption oftheAgenda
B. Implementation ofUruguay Round Provisions inFavour ofDeveloping Country
Members
C. Provision ofGuidelines forWTO Technical Cooperation
D. ReviewoftheParticipationofDevelopingCountryMembersintheMultilateralTrading
System, including theReview oftheImpact oftheResults oftheUruguay Round on
Developing Country Members
E. Other Business
- TheCommittee 'sReport totheGeneral Council
2. TheCommittee agreed thatinternational organizations present atthissession beinvited once
more inanobserver capacity toitsTwelfth Session.
B. Implementation ofUruguay Round Provisions inFavour ofDeveloping Country Members
3. TheChairman recalled theCommittee 'sdiscussion onthisitematit'stwoprevious meetings,
anddrew theattention todocument WT/COMTD/W/16 andAdd.1 which contained responses from
theChairpersons ofWTO Bodies. Additional information, inparticular thatreceived from the
Chairperson oftheCouncil onTrade inServices wasnowavailable andwould beissued asAdd.2.
4. TheChairman alsorecalled that,asapartofthepreparatory process forSingapore andas
aninput totheCommittee 'sdiscussion ontheimplementation ofUruguay Round results infavour of
developing countries, hehadcirculated aninformal notecontaining suggestions onmatters tobeincluded
intheCommittee 'sreport totheGeneral Council, intended toassist theCommittee initsconsideration
ofthematter.WT/COMTD/M/11
Page2
5. Therepresentative ofCanada wondered howthese suggestions would beincorporated intothe
Committee 'sreport totheGeneral Council andwhat other aspects would becovered inthereport.
Healsowondered whattheChairman 'sintentions wereinregard totheDraft PlanofAction forthe
Least-Developed Countries, which delegations hadreceived earlier atthemeeting.
6. TheChairman saidthatheplanned tocirculate thedraftreport toMembers on7October, which
wouldincorporatetheelementscontainedinhisinformalnote.HesuggestedthattheCommitteeforward
thedraftPlanofAction asanannex totheCommittee 'sreport totheGeneral Council, fortransmission
totheMinisters inSingapore.
7. Therepresentative ofIndia saidthat,while hegenerally agreed withtheChairman 'sinformal
note, hewould nevertheless liketopropose anaddition. Recalling theextensive debate thathadtaken
placeintheCouncilforTradeinGoodsontheimplementationoftheAgreementonTextilesandClothing
(ATC),heproposedtoaddthewords"exceptintheAgreementonTextilesandClothingasdemonstrated
intheGoods Council debate", totheparagraph which indicated thattheimplementation oftheprovisions
infavour ofdeveloping countries hadingeneral beenmoving ahead. Hefurthermore proposed the
addition oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing inthefootnote totheparagraph referring tovarious
areas intheWTO where means hadyettobeelaborated togiveanoperational content tothespecial
provisionsinfavourofdevelopingcountries.Asregardthesectiononfutureworkandrecommendations,
heproposed thatthefollowing words beadded: "Examine theimpact ofrequests forintroducing new
trade-related issues bydeveloped country members onprovisions infavour ofdeveloping and
least-developed countries."
8. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthathisdelegation considered the
Chairman 'ssuggestions asabroad outline onwhich thereport would bebased. While heagreed that
documents before theCommittee, including WTO/COMTD/W/15 and16didnotgivethefullpicture,
itwasimportant topassthemessage thattherehadbeenprogress. Referring tothesuggestions proposed
bytherepresentative ofIndia, hesaidthattheroleoftheCTD wastolookatprovisions infavour
ofdeveloping andleast-developed countries. Reviewing anagreement suchastheATC wasbetter
lefttotheTextiles Monitoring Body andtheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Heagreed thatmore precise
information wasneeded ontheapplication ofprovisions; hecautioned however against drawing
conclusions onthelevelofimplementation onthebasisofdomestic legislation, since implementation
ofsuchprovisions wasoften onabest-endeavour basis anddidnotneedtobereflected indomestic
legislation. Healsocautioned thattheimpression should beavoided thatthere hadbeenanyfailure
onthepartofmembers. Hesaidthatthepurpose ofthereport wastogiveinformation ontheprovisions
infavour ofdeveloping countries, nottoexpress concern onanylackoftheirusenortoencourage
theiruse. ItwasuptoeachMember todecide whataction totake. Thetrade policy review seemed
acaseinpoint: least-developed countries wereallowed toseekexemption fromtheTPRM for7years.
However, encouraging useofthisprovision would deprive the51least-developed countries notyet
subject totheTPRM thebenefits ofsuchareview. Itwasnotwithin theCommittee 'smandate to
work towards thefullapplication oftheprovisions; instead, theCommittee needed todisseminate
theinformation.
9. Therepresentative ofColombia saidthattheChairman 'sinformal notelacked precision on
thedifficulties andproblems faced bydeveloping countries. Theefforts made bydeveloping countries
toadapt legislative andadministrative structures should berecognized andreflected intheMinisterial
declaration. TheCommittee should beentrusted withadetailed analysis ofdifficulties faced by
developing countries. There often seemed tobealackofunderstanding oftheprovisions relating to
thetimeframes fortheimplementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements, bothonthepartof
governments andoftheprivate sector. TheCommittee hadaroletoplayinfamiliarising WTO Members
withtheproblems actually encountered atthelevelofimplementation.WT/COMTD/M/11
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10. TheChairman saidthattheunderlying reasons forthereview presently underway wasto
encourage greater integration ofdeveloping andleast-developed countries intotheworld economy.
Formany least-developed countries, theactofjoining theWTO wasoneoffaith. Itwasimportant
thattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment notonlymake information available butalsoencouraged
fulluseofthesystem. Healsocautioned thatthisCommittee should notattempt tocutacross thework
ofotherCommittees andshould avoid going intodetailed requirements. Hisinformal notewasintended
asthebasis onwhich recommendations totheGeneral Council could beformulated. Astimewas
short, heurged delegations tosubmit theirviews inwriting. Heintended tocontinue hisconsultations
withdelegations withaviewtoadopting thereport totheGeneral Council atitsnextmeeting.
11. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
C. Provision ofGuidelines forWTO Technical Cooperation
12. TheChairman saidthatdocument WT/COMTD/W/18 incorporated theviews expressed at
various stages oftheCommittee 'sdiscussions aswellaswritten comments sentbydelegates.
13. Therepresentative ofEgypt expressed hisappreciation fortheChairman 'sefforts tomove the
guidelines closer toacceptance intheCommittee. Thedocument hadtaken careofsome oftheconcerns
includingsomeconveyedinwritingtotheChairman.However,recallingthattheMarrakeshDeclaration
related totechnical cooperation fordeveloping countries, hesaidthathisdelegation continued tohave
difficulties withtheguidelines referring toeconomies intransition. These countries hadaccess tofunds
from sources suchastheEBRD. Furthermore, technical assistance wasinresponse todemand and
thismight bedifficult toreconcile withtheobjective ofkeeping ageographical balance. Hewondered
howtheexchange ofinformation withdonor andrecipient governments would takeplace: whether
thiswould bedonethrough notification orotherwise, forexample through anexchange ofexperiences
inthecourse ofadiscussion. Hewondered which non-governmental organizations wereintended as
sources offunding forWTO technical assistance trustfunds. Hecautioned thatsome organizations
hadtheirownagendas.
14. TheChairman saidthattheformulation ofguidelines aswellaskeeping under review inthe
CTD ofhowtheywereimplemented would increase transparency. Inresponse totherepresentative
ofEgypt, heclarified thattheFordFoundation wasanexample ofanon-governmental organization
intended inthedraftguidelines.
15. Therepresentative ofCanada saidthatthisversion ofthedraftguidelines hadgone astage
further inachieving coherence andconsistency withtheWTO mandate. Hesuggested thatthesection
onobjectives andprinciples specify thattheguidelines were intended toresult inthemore active
participation intheWTO ofdeveloping andleast-developed countries. Inthesection onmodes of
delivery hesuggested aneditorial change tothefirstindent sothatitwould read"extending assistance
onasbroad andascost-effective abasisaspossible". Heagreed withtherepresentative ofEgypt that
thesection onbilateral development assistance intrade-related matters should clarify themodalities
ofinformation exchange between donor andrecipient governments aswellasanyroleoftheWTO.
Hisdelegation would welcome some elaboration onwhatconstituted appropriate evaluation criteria
inthesection onmanagement.WT/COMTD/M/11
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16. TheChairman clarified thattheguidelines pertaining tointernational coordination hadbeen
drawn upwithaviewtoavoiding duplication between thedifferent agencies andinaspirit ofcoherence.
Todraw upveryprecise evaluation criteria rantheriskofbeing counter-productive. Inanycase,
technical assistance activities would becarried outbythesecretariat under thegeneral guidance of
thisCommittee. Hewashopeful thatthrough suchcooperation itshould bepossible toarrive at
pragmatic criteria.
17. TherepresentativeofHungarysaidthatthefuturemembershipoftheWTOwouldbesubstantially
different fromwhatitwasnow. These wereguidelines thatwould operate inthefuture. Inthelight
ofthesubstantial differences inthelevels ofdevelopment oftheeconomies intransition, theirfull
integration wasinthecommon interest ofallWTO Members. Access forsome ofthese countries
toWTO technical assistance should notbequestioned.
18. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthattheobjective oftechnical cooperation
wastoassist governments intheirefforts tointegrate fullyinthemultilateral trading system. Such
integration would leadtoeconomic growth. Turning tospecific points inthedraft, hesaidthatthe
costandmanagement aspects ofinternships asamode ofdelivery needed more reflection andshould
notbespecified atthisstage. Hesuggested thatinthesection onfunding theindent onregular budget
should statefurther "within thelimits specifically assigned bymembers" andtheindent onextra
budgetary contributions should specify thatthese were voluntary funds.
19. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthatthedraftwasauseful document. Economies
intransition should haveaccess toWTO technical cooperation. Hewasoftheviewthattheguidelines
appliedacrosstheboardtoallWTOprogrammesoftechnicalassistance,notjustthosewithinthepurview
oftheCTD.
20. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland pointed outthatthedraftguidelines provided forareview
andhehadrefrained fromsuggesting changes because hewasoftheviewthatitwould bemore useful
tolookatthedraftinthelightofactual experience. Heagreed thatinternships intheWTO constituted
anewmode ofdelivery andwhile there wasstillnobasis forevaluation, theirpossibility should be
retained. Hisdelegation hadalways stressed theimportance ofelaborating evaluation criteria atthe
outset. Heagreed thatthepurpose oftechnical assistance wastofurther integrate countries intothe
multilateral trading system. Hepointed outthateconomies intransition hadreceived andcontinued
toreceive technical assistance. ItwasnotfortheCTD todiscuss whether thisshould orshould not
beso.Rather, theCommittee should stick toitsmandate toestablish guidelines which would be
applicable toWTO technical assistance programmes. Itwasuptoanydonor country tospecify whether
ornotfunding beusedtofinance technical assistance programmes insuchcountries.
21. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidthathecould accept anyformulation thatwasinlinewith
theMarrakesh Decision ontechnical cooperation fordeveloping countries. Hequeried the
appropriateness ofWTO technical cooperation being extended tocountries aspiring toOECD
membership. Heagreed thattheobjective oftechnical assistance wasthefurther integration intothe
multilateral system. Healsoagreed thatfunding would bewithin thelimits specifically assigned by
members.
22. Therepresentative ofIndia expressed hissupport fortheguidelines.
23. Therepresentative ofElSalvador requested thatthetextbemade available intheSpanish
language. Sherecalled thatherdelegation hadsuggested thepossibility ofinternships intheWTO
Secretariat. Theexperience ofinterns would beuseful incapitals.WT/COMTD/M/11
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24. Therepresentative ofSingapore suggested thatthedocument specify attheoutset thattechnical
assistance wasfordeveloping countries butcould beextended toeconomies intransition inthatcategory.
Hesuggested thattheobjective ofkeeping ageographical balance should beconditioned bythephrase
"where requests aremade". Healsosuggested thatthephrase "where relevant" beadded inthe
paragraph onnon-governmental organizations, toaccommodate theconcern expressed inthatrespect.
25. Therepresentative ofColombia saidthatthedocument didnotfocus enough ontechnical
assistance intheareaofdispute settlement andsuggested thatitreflect theimportance ofrelevant
information andimproved capabilities inthatarea,withaviewtoavoiding dependence onhired trained
counsel. Heshared Egypt 'scaution onsources offunding withrespect toNGOs: many NGOs were
interested forinstance infunding projects related totheenvironment. Inthatcontext, hesuggested
thattheguidelines provide fortheanalysis andevaluation ofpotential contributors.
26. TheChairmanrecalledthattheUnderstandingonDisputeSettlementensuredtechnicalassistance
intheareaofdispute settlement. Withregard totheconcerns expressed inrelation toNGOs asapossible
sources offunding, herecalled thattheguidelines gavetheCTDasupervisory rolewhich would include
matters suchasthis. Heintended tosentanewdraftoftheguidelines todelegations atanearlystage.
Hewashopeful thattheguidelines could beadopted atanextmeeting oftheCTD andthatsuch
guidelines would contribute tohelping recipient countries receiving themaximum benefit fromWTO
technical assistance.
27. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
D. ReviewofParticipationofDevelopingCountryMembersintheMultilateralTradingSystem
including theReview oftheImpact oftheResults oftheUruguay Round onDeveloping
Country Members
28. TheChairmanrecalledthattheCommitteehadanexchangeofviewsatitstwopreviousmeetings
onthebasis ofastudy prepared bytheSecretariat, contained indocument WT/COMTD/W/15. The
study wasintended toconstitute thebasis foraddressing oneofthethree issues theCommittee had
selected foritspriority workprogramme in1996. Based onthisstudy, hesuggested thattheCommittee
startidentifying specific inputs forthepreparatory process fortheMinisterial Conference. Inthe
Committee 'sdiscussions, attention hadbeendrawn bydelegations tothelinkbetween fluctuations in
world interest ratesandexchange ratesonvolumes andvalues ofdeveloping countries exports, aswell
astotheimpact ofoutstanding debts ontrade performance. Delegations hadraised theissue ofthe
negative effects oftariff escalation, combined with declining commodity prices, ontheexport
performance ofdeveloping countries. Matters relating todomestic savings, foreign investment and
development hadalsobeenraised. Healsorecalled thattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment
andtheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries were required bytheirterms ofreference to
consider measures andinitiatives toassist developing andleast-developed countries intheexpansion
oftheirtrade andinvestment opportunities. Discussions inbothCommittees hadbeenheldonthe
basis ofaSecretariat 'sdocument outlining recent initiatives inthese areas. Inthiscontext, the
significance ofinvestment foreconomic development andfortheintegration ofdeveloping countries
intotheglobal economy hadbeenraised, morethanonce. Itseemed therefore thatinitiating aneducative
process onthese issues, forinstance onexisting investment rules, should beconsidered carefully.
Themerits ofsuchanapproach appeared toberecognized, judging bythework undertaken onthis
matter byother international instances, froexample UNCTAD. Apossible forum fordiscussion in
theWTO could betheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment. Hesuggested that,forexample and
asafirststage, onecould consider taking upareview ofexisting bilateral orplurilateral investment
programmes, inorder toexplore their nature andthemechanisms andresults achieved from aWT/COMTD/M/11
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development perspective. Theproblems involved werecomplex andneeded tobestudied fromdifferent
angles. Thiswould ensure thatthecomplementary nature ofthework undertaken inWTO andinother
fora, suchasUNCTAD would bemaximized. UNCTAD andWTO could examine theissue from
different viewpoints. Heemphasized thatanyinvolvement inaneducative andanalytical process on
investment didnotconstitute thestartofaprocess ofnegotiation onamultilateral investment agreement
intheWTO.Delegationsshouldgoslowlyandnotjumpfences.Thiswouldformanadditionalargument
infavour ofselecting theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment astheappropriate forum within the
WTO forcarrying outsuchaneducative process, astheCTD wasnotnegotiating forum.
29. Therepresentative ofCanada saidhewasuncertain about thereason fortheChairman 's
statement. Ithadnotaddressed exhaustively theissues raised bydelegations, suchastheimportance
fordeveloping countries ofthedevelopment oftheservices sector, which hadbeenraised byhis
delegation. TheChairman 'sstatement relating totheinvestment issue andthelinkhehadmade to
theCTD wasofparticular interest. Hisdelegation supported theideatolaunch work oninvestment
intheWTO. Such work should include areview ofexisting agreements, economic analyses andan
examination oftherules oninvestment inregional trade agreements. While herecognized thatthe
CTD'sterms ofreference required ittotakeahorizontal lookatallissues, hecould notagree atthis
stagethattheCTDwastheappropriatebodytodiscussinvestmentissues.Herecalledthattheinvestment
issue wascurrently being discussed intheforum oftheHeads ofDelegations andthatitshould, at
leastforthetimebeing, more appropriately remain there.
30. Therepresentative ofIndiasaidthathisdelegation 'sviewasregards theinvestment issues was
onrecord andthathecould not,atthisstage, accept theChairman 'ssuggestion. Hewould referthe
Chairman 'sstatement tohisauthorities.
31. TheChairman clarified thattheterms ofreference oftheCTD required ittoconsider measures
andinitiatives toassist developing country Members, andinparticular theleast-developed country
Members, intheexpansion oftheirtrade andinvestment opportunities, including support fortheir
measures oftrade liberalization. Itwashisintention atthisstage togetreactions from delegations.
Investment wasakeyissueunder discussion intheforum oftheHeads ofDelegations. Atanappropriate
time, discussions intheCTD could beaninput intothework oftheWTO.
32. Therepresentative ofTanzania saidthathehesitated tosupport thesuggestion thattheCTD
takeuptheissue ofinvestment within itsterms ofreference. Heagreed withtherepresentative of
Canada thatthismatter should, forthemoment, restwiththeHeads ofDelegations.
33. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidthattheChairman 'sproposal needed more study. Herecalled
hisdelegation'sobjectiontoincludeinvestmentontheWTO'sagenda.Moreover,aneducationalprocess
oninvestment wasbetter carried outinUNCTAD.
34. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatinvestment wasanissue which
concerned bothdeveloped anddeveloping countries andconsequently needed alarger perspective than
thatoftheCTD. While hecould imagine thatthere might becircumstances inwhich discussions in
theCTD could beuseful, hedidnotshare theviewthattheCTD wastheappropriate forum toaddress
theissue ofinvestment.WT/COMTD/M/11
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35. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthatnospecific consensus existed onthe
appropriateness ofdiscussing issues ofinvestment intheCTD. Neither didsuchaconsensus exist
onhowtheWTOwould,post-Singapore,dealwithinvestmentrelatedissues.Hewashoweverconcerned
thatanumber ofdelegations whointheforum oftheHeads ofDelegations wereinfavour ofdiscussing
investment didnotwishtodosointheCTD. ItwasclearthattheCTD could notbetheforum for
negotiations oninvestment. Hecould however appreciate theusefulness ofdiscussions outside a
negotiating framework, forinstance those ofananalytical nature, intheCTD. Hewasoftheview
thatthedoorshould notbeclosed tothepossibility ofdiscussing investment intheCTD, along the
linesoftheChairman 'ssuggestion. Itwould bepremature toruleoutthepossibility ofdiscussing
anintegral element inthedevelopment process. Itwasclearthatanydiscussion oninvestment inthe
CTD would notpreempt strategic decisions ontheroleandplace ofinvestment onthefuture agenda
oftheWTO. Hiscomments wereofapreliminary nature andhewould appreciate afurther elaboration
oftheChairman 'ssuggestions.
36. TheChairman saidthathisintention hadbeentodraw theattention totheCTD'sareaof
competence, pursuant toitsterms ofreference, independently ofdecisions taken elsewhere. Hedrew
aparallel withthewayinwhich regional trade agreements were handled intheWTO. Toconsider
theroleofRTAs inthedevelopment process wasunrelated tonegotiations ofindividual RTAs orto
theirconformity withmultilateral obligations.
37. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland saidthatwhile discussion onanimportant subject suchas
investment should notberuled outonaprima faciebasis, hewasoftheviewthattointroduce issues
which werecurrently under discussion elsewhere would beanunwise diversion fromtheuseful work
carried onintheCTD. Hecould wellseethat,atsome stage, theCTD could usefully consider
investment issues from adevelopment perspective.
38. Therepresentative ofVenezuela referred totheperspective putforward bytheChairman and
agreed thatitwaswithin theCTD'smandate toconsider thetotalspectrum ofWTO issues. He
questioned theutility ofanalytical work ondevelopment issues ifinvestment wasexcluded.
Notwithstanding thefactthattheHeads ofDelegations stillhadtodecide whether investment should
beontheWTO agenda, andgiven theimportance ofinvestment fordevelopment, hewasoftheview
thatuseful analytical work oninvestment could beundertaken intheCTD.
39. Therepresentative ofCanada cautioned thatthedistinction between theChairman 'ssuggestion
andthework currently undertaken intheHeads ofDelegations process should notbeblurred. He
agreed thattheCTD wasaforum which could consider theimplications ofallWTO issues forthe
development process.
40. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities supported theview putforward bythe
representative ofSwitzerland toletthematter restfornowwiththeHeads ofDelegations andtorevert
toit,asappropriate, atalaterstage.
41. Therepresentative ofSingapore agreed withtheviewexpressed bytherepresentative ofthe
United States thatitwould bepremature toexclude anydiscussion ofinvestment intheCTD. Investment
waswithin theCTD mandate andinthatcontext, hedrew attention toparagraph 5ofdocument
WT/COMTD/W/15 which noted theimportance ofprivate capital flows foreconomic growth andthe
verysmall partofitwhich wenttoleast-developed countries. Hesuggested thattheCTD should focus
itsdiscussion ontheroleofinvestment inthefurther integration ofdeveloping andleast-developed
countries intotheworld economy, rather thantolinkitupwiththeHeads ofDelegations 'process.
42. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.WT/COMTD/M/11
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43. TheChairman thenturned tothedraftComprehensive andIntegrated WTO PlanofAction
fortheLeast-Developed Countries anddrewattention totheneedtoensure thatleast-developed countries
secured ashare ofinternational tradecommensurate withtheireconomic development andtheireffective
participation intheworld trading system. Ontwooccasions, theirconcerns werereflected informal
instrumentscontainingelementsinfavourofthegroupofleast-developedcountries:inthe1979Enabling
Clause, andinthe1994Decision onMeasure inFavour oftheLeast-developed Countries. Inaddition,
specific supportive measures infavour oftheleast-developed countries hadbeenincluded inmany
Uruguay Round agreements. TheCTD andtheSubCommittee onLLDC had,throughout 1996, given
special consideration totheirperipheral position intheworld economy andinthemultilateral trading
system. Under eachofthepriority areaswhich weresingled outforexamination within theCommittee,
attention wastobegiven tothedifficulties oftheLLDCs. Herecalled thattheSecretariat hadproduced
adocument outlining recent international initiatives launched infavour ofLLDC 'stofacilitate the
expansion oftheirtradeandinvestment opportunities. Inaddition, thestudy bytheSecretariat contained
indocumentWT/COMTD/W/15whichhadbeendiscussedearlierinthismeeting,thoughnotexclusively
geared towards theLLDCs, gaveinteresting insights intothefactors which might haveabearing on
theireconomic performance, inparticular theirtrade performance. TheCTD andtheSubCommittee
onLLDCs hadalsobeeninformed bytheHeads ofinternational organizations about theiractivities
relating toleast-developed countries. There wasnodoubt thatefforts should notonlybecoordinated
butshould betailored totheneedofcountries. Despite suchefforts, littleheadway hadbeenmade
intheintegration oftheleast-developed countries intotheworld economy. AttheG7summit inLyon,
theWTO Director-General haddrawn attention totheneedtoimplement expeditiously theMarrakesh
Ministerial Decision inFavour ofLLDCs. ThePlanofAction before theCommittee incorporated the
main elements oftheDirector-General 'sproposal. Asaresult ofaseries ofinformal consultations,
hehadidentified other areas where positive action could betaken. Some initiatives intheplanwere
ready tobelaunched, others called forfurther refining anddiscussion intheWTO. ThedraftPlan
ofAction wasatestimony tothefirmcommitment ofWTO Members totranslate intoaction the
commitmenttopromotetrade-relatedactivitiesintheeconomicdevelopmentofleast-developedcountries.
44. Therepresentative ofTanzania expressed great satisfaction fortheChairman 'scommitment
which hadresulted inthisPlanofAction. TheNewYork Ministerial meeting onleast-developed
countries, heldshortly before, hadcalled forsuchaplanofaction tobesubmitted totheSingapore
Ministerial. Herecognized thattheproposed planhadincorporated allsuggestions made intheWTO
aswellasinother fora. However, hecould notagree withthesuggestion inthedraftPlanofAction,
thattheleast-developed countries hadfailed totakeadvantage oftheopportunities provided toattract
foreigninvestment.Least-developedcountriesdidnotneedencouragement,butratherneededassistance.
There werefundamental reasons whyforeign investment wasnotflowing toleast-developed countries
andthishadlittletodowiththeirfailure touseopportunities toencourage FDI. Hewondered why
ahighpercentage ofFDIflows wasattracted byChina andbyeastEuropean countries andwhyso
littlewenttoleast-developed countries despite comparable regimes forforeign investment inLLDC 's.
Supply sideconstraints andinadequate infrastructure constituted partoftheproblem. While anefficient
service sector wasaprecondition fordevelopment, development banks would notcome forward until
efficient communications existed. There wasnosimple linkage between trade andinvestment. There
wereother linkssuchaslevels ofaidandlevels ofindebtedness. InhisviewtheUNProgramme of
Action forLLDCs provided abalanced picture ofwhatshould bedonebytheLLDCs andwhatshould
bedonebytheinternational community. TheMid-term review ofthisprogramme clearly showed how
much hadbeendonebyLLDCs andhowmuch lessbytheinternational community. AWTO draft
PlanofAction should besimilarly balanced. ThedraftPlanofAction didnotfocus sufficiently on
supply-side constraints. Itwasimperative thatsuchfundamental constraints hadtobetackled before
market access. Hewasheartened bytheprovision inthedraftPlanofAction forcountry-programmes.
Hewanted anassurance thatcountry programmes would dealwithissues highlighted intheprogramme
ofaction relating todeveloping, strengthening anddiversifying production andexport bases. HealsoWT/COMTD/M/11
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emphasized theimportance ofdefining WTO 'sareaofcompetence asbroadly aspossible asmany
requirements arising from WTO agreements could beinterpreted asfalling outside thecompetence
ofWTO. Hesuggested thatitwould havebeenmore appropriate inthePlanofAction 'ssection dealing
withsupply-side constraints torefertotheneedtofacilitate theimplementation ofcommitment inthe
TRIPs agreements which hadprovisions forleast-developed countries rather thantheSPSagreement.
Healsosuggested thatitwould bemore appropriate toprovide forjointparticipation bythepublic
andprivate sectors intraining courses. Hewondered whether thisdraft PlanofAction wasthe
programme ofaction promised bytheDirector-General oftheWTO.
45. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthatthedraftPlanofAction hadagreat dealof
content andpresented something onwhich members could focus their attention. Henevertheless
anticipated some problems forhisdelegation withthesection onmarket access.
46. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities andSwitzerland expressed theirdelegation 's
appreciation forthedocument andawaited anindication from theChairman onwhathehoped todo
next.
47. Therepresentative ofJapan thanked theChairman forhisefforts tosubmit aPlanofAction
andsaidasapreliminary comment thathisdelegation might alsohaveproblems onthesection onmarket
access.
48. TheChairman saidthatthedraftPlanofAction before theCommittee wastheonlyplanof
action intheWTO. Heinvited delegations tosubmit theirinitial comments inwriting onthebasis
ofwhich heintended toconduct informal consultations. Henoted thecaution expressed bysome
representatives withrespect totheinitiatives onmarket access andpointed outthatsuchinitiatives were
tobeconsidered asapositive listofoptions, some ofwhich didnotneedtobeimplemented immediately.
Theplanwasacommitment toaction. Heencouraged delegations tofinalize asubstantial Planof
Action intimefortheSingapore Ministerial. Thiswould beanimportant firststepinefforts toincrease
coherence andefficiency ininternational actions infavour ofleast-developed countries. Inthatcontext
herecalled thatattheirrecent Quad meeting inVancouver, representatives fromCanada, theEuropean
Communities, Japan andtheUnited States hadrecommended thataMinisterial meeting beheld. The
Committee might wishtoconsider recommending ahigh-level meeting nextyear, under WTO aegis,
grouping aidagencies, multilateral financial institutions andLLDC 's,withaview tobuilding an
integrated approach tothetrade-related aspects ofLLDCs 'economic development. Hewelcomed views
from delegations onthequestion astowhether theCTD initsreport totheGeneral Council should
propose thatsuch ahigh-level meeting beorganized incoordination withrelevant international
organizations.
49. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
E. Other Business
50. TheChairman saidthatafirstdraftoftheCommittee 'sreport totheGeneral Council would
besenttodelegations shortly. Heintended toholdaseries ofconsultations withaviewtofacilitating
adoption ofthereport bytheCommittee atitsnextmeeting, scheduled for15October.