WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/128/Rev.1
13December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5341)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
NAMIBIA
Statement bytheHonourable Hidipo Hamutenya
Minister ofTrade andIndustry
Revision
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 fortheableandbusinesslike manner inwhich
theConference isbeing conducted.
There isnodoubt thatwithout thegreat skillandconsiderable patience thatourChairman has
demonstrated, wewould havenotachieved thekindofheadway thatwehavemade overthelastthree
days inbuilding confidence among ourselves thatthedifferences, 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 mechanism forthesettling oftradedisputes. Wehavelearned, inthis
connection, thatmore than60cases havebeenbrought before theWTO 'sdispute resolution panels,
andthatabout aquarter ofthisnumber ofcases hasbeensettled. Allthisisveryencouraging, indeed.
Whilenotingwithappreciationtheprogressbeingrecorded,weremainmindfulofthe"unfinished
business" oftheUruguay Round thatawaits tobecompleted.
Wemusttherefore takethisopportunity toreaffirm ourcommitment andreadiness tomove
forward withreduction ofthosetraderestrictions which stillstifleinternational commerce inagriculture,
services andinthemovement ofnatural persons.
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Thus far,wehavemade progress inliberalizing trade inindustrial products. Yet,most of
theeconomies ofthedeveloping countries arestilllocked in,andcontinue todepend heavily onthe
export ofprimary agricultural commodities. Therefore, unless there isaprogress intheefforts to
further liberalize tradeinagricultural products, theliberalization oftradewithin theWTO framework
willhaveminimal effects ontheeconomies ofmost ofthedeveloping countries.
Failing todothisintheshort andmedium terms, thetwinprocess ofliberalization and
globalization oftheworld economy willresult infurther marginalization ofthelessdeveloped countries,
themajority ofwhich areontheAfrican continent. These countries needtobeassisted tosecure a
fairshare ofinternational trade inorder toimprove thestandards ofliving oftheirpeople.
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 forinthevarious agreements.
Inthisregard, itisimportant thattheWTO focuses itsattention primarily ontheimplementation
oftheMultilateral Trade Agreements aswellasongiving newimpetus tothebuilt-in agenda, towhich
wehavealready committed ourselves atMarrakesh. Weshould trytoreach finality onthatunfinished
business.
Asregards theso-called newissues, ourposition, asreflected inthejointSADC statement,
remains thesame. Weareaware oftheimportance ofthese issues being raised. Similarly, wedo
recognize theserious implications which some ofthese issues mayhaveonoursociety, bothsocially
andeconomically. Butweareconvinced thatthese issues should belefttotherelevant agencies to
handle.
Webelieve thatmatters relating toinvestment andcompetition policy areverycomplex and
dorequire further study primarily byUNCTAD inconsultations withallother relevant international
agencies, including, ofcourse, theWTO.
Equally, wevalue therights ofourworkers andarecommitted totheobservance oflabour
standards. Namibia isnotonlyasignatory totheILOconventions but,oursupreme lawexplicitly
prohibits childlabour. Namibia alsohasinplace averyelaborate labour lawwhich protects anddefends
allthecorelabour standards. Therefore, wehavenobadconscience about thepromotion andthe
protection oftherights ofourworkers. Thus, theNamibian delegation, likemany other delegations
whospoke earlier, holds theviewthattheappropriate forum todealwiththismatter istheILO. In
ourcountry there isaclear division oflabour regarding thetrade andlabour issues. TheMinistry
ofTrade andIndustry deals withtradematters while theMinistry ofLabour dealswithlabour matters,
therefore wedonotwishtoconfuse theresponsibilities. Thelatter Ministry hasthenecessary expertise
andtheinstitutional mechanism todealwithlabour 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.
Wehopethattheoutcome ofourdeliberations willgiveanewimpetus tothefuture work of
theWTO.