WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
18 December 1997
(97-5559)
High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for
Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development
COUNTRY SPECIFIC ROUND TABLE MEETINGS
Notes on the Round Table Meetings for:
Bangladesh
Chad
Djibouti
GuineaHaiti
Madagascar
Mali
Nepal
TanzaniaUganda
Vanuatu
ZambiaWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 2
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
BANGLADESH
Chairman: H.E. Minister. T. Ahmed (Bangladesh)
1. The Chairman  introduced Bangladesh' assessment of its trade-related technical assistance
needs.  He noted that  a vibrant policy was being pursued in Bangladesh, a democratic and pluralist
country with regular and free elections.  Bangladesh was also a country committed to the modernvalues of market liberalisation, universal literacy, human rights and good governance.  At the same
time, it sought to improve the quality of life, to alleviate poverty, to bring women into the mainstream
of socio-economic activities and to achieve fairness and equality across its society.  The foreign
policy of Bangladesh was perceived as being rational, constructive and moderate.  Bangladesh played
a major role in forging regional economic cooperation.  The aim of the government of Prime Minister
Sheik Hasina was to realise the vision of the Golden Bengal of which the father of the nation Sheik
Rahman dreamt, under whose dynamic leadership the blood of 3,000,000 people was sacrificed tomake the country independent.  Nevertheless, the country faced numerous structural problems as, in
an area of 145,000 square kilometres, the population was of over 120,000,000.  The density of the
population thus reached about 900 persons per square kilometre which was one of the highest in the
world.  The per capita income was a mere US$260 and the output was low as well.  Incidence of
poverty was high while health standards were poor.
2. Those statistics placed Bangladesh within the category of the least-developed countries.
However, all those problems were being seriously addressed.  A sound macro-economic policy, a
successful series of structural adjustments reforms, an effective use of foreign aid while avoiding
heavy debt burdens, an excellent donor - recipient relationship and a good record of cooperation with
development partners had combined to put the Bangladesh economy on an even keel.  Two furtherconcrete steps undertaken by the authorities in recent times included the achievement of a fully
deregulated market-orientated economy and the dismantling of tariff walls in line with WTO
obligations.  A vigourous privatisation programme had been undertaken and the state-owned
telecommunications sector had been opened up through the recent signing in the WTO of the Fourth
Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services relating to basic telecommunication services.Another example was the opening up of the road, rail, aviation, shipping and energy sectors to the
private sector.  Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were encouraged to play an active role and
the use of innovative mechanisms, like micro-credits, were encouraged as tools for poverty
alleviation.
3. Over the past year, Bangladesh had experienced a growth rate of 5.7 per cent and the
projected growth rate for 1997/98 was over 7 per cent.  That figure was expected to be sustained and
grow over time. The export sector had registered a re al growth rate of about 14 per cent in US dollars
in the 1990s, compared to 5.5 per cent in the 1980s.  In the last three months, export growth had been
more than 20 per cent.  In the past year the va lue of exports had reached US$4.42 billion.  For 1997,
the target of US$5 billion had been met, and as growth continued it was hoped to approach
US$6 billion.  Access to markets with an economic level higher than that of Bangladesh would enable
Bangladesh to take greater advantage of its specialisation in low-tech, labour intensive products inwhich it had a clear competitive advantage.  He therefore expected bold and mutually beneficial
market access in the European Communities, NAFTA, Japan, Republic of Korea, China and other
developing countries.
4. The six multilateral agencies who had been collaborating most closely in the preparations of
the High-level Meeting could, through an integrated approach for technical assistance, increaseBangladesh's capacity to trade by: (a) promoting human resource development in Bangladesh through
training of trade-related personnel in both the public and private sectors, (b) standardising trade-
related institutions in Bangladesh in both the private and public sectors and (c) providing tradeWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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financing to the export sector by supporting the design and implementation of macro-economic trade
policy reforms.  The World Bank and the IMF could assist in undertaking public sector investment
reviews to identify overall investment and trade-related infrastructure requirements and the Asian
Development Bank could provide finance for the building of trade-related infrastructure.
5. The Chairman continued by stressing the need for the international community to consider the
following proposals for action:
(a) to support the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance through
technical and financial assistance to LDCs for the development of infrastructure and
trade support services and for the establishment of programmes to enhance the
technical and managerial skills of exporters in LDCs;
(b) to immediately cancel all debt in all LDCs;
(c) to exhort IFC to intensify its efforts to  identify viable private sector investment
projects in Bangladesh, and to mobilise finance for these projects;  and
(d) to urgently consider the dwindling flow of official development assistance as that
assistance was necessary to support the vital social and economic infrastructure
building in LDCs so that opportunities for profitable private sector investment might
evolve.
6. The poverty situation in LDCs needed to be arrested fast, and massive investment in literacy,
population control, skill development and micro-credit programmes for the assetless poor was
necessary.  Bangladesh needed large investments in the road, rail, telecommunication and energy
sectors to create a more attractive environment.  Positive responses had recently been received from
international reputable oil companies and the it was expected that Bangladesh possessed huge reserves
of natural gas, the quantity of which should not be less than 62-80 trillion cb.ft.  Internationalcompanies like Unicol, Occidental, Cairn Energy,  Holly Burton, Brown & Root, Meridian and many
others were engaged in gas exploration in Bangladesh.  He expected that the urgently needed loans for
Bangladesh's large investments in the road, ra il, telecommunications and energy sectors would be
soft-term loans with tolerable conditionalities from international agencies like the International
Development Agency, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and theInternational Finance Corporation.  As a final point, he mentioned that UNCTAD, ITC and other
international organizations recently had launched plans for an integrated country programme for
capacity building in trade in Bangladesh and he thanked UNCTAD and ITC for their initiatives.  He
hoped that development partners would come forward to fund it as it could be seen as a model for
other LDCs to replicate.
7. The representative of UNCTAD presented the integrated response of the six agencies
contained in WT/LDC/HL12/Add.1.  The document ha d benefitted considerably from a series of
intensive inter-agency consultations that had taken place in Geneva.  At the outset he wished to
congratulate the government of Bangladesh for responding to the questionnaire in a systematic andtimely way.  The submission from Dhaka had been prepared entirely by national resources and he, on
the part of the agencies, felt confident in putting forward the Integrated Response.  The six agencies
had gone a long way in designing the Integrated Trade-Related Programme of Technical Assistance
for Bangladesh.  That programme addressed essentially two points;  the first one revolved around the
notion that development and diversification of the export sector were important and viable and there
were concrete proposals that needed to be moved forward.  Secondly, the question of capacity
building for improved governance in trade and trade-related areas needed to be addressed.  Various
elements of the second approach were outlined in the document which essentially addressed the
question of improved capacity building for the design and implementation of trade policies.  In as
much as the design of the programme was in place, he found it timely to remind the internationalWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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community and donors to take the next step which was to look at the documents carefully and to
begin programming them in US dollar-terms.   The financing of the proposed activities needed to be
considered at the level of agencies and in capitals.  He hoped that at the end of the discussions,
agencies and other national officials present would go back to their capitals and their institutional
bodies and seriously look at the proposals with a vi ew to providing the necessary funding to move the
process forward.
8. At the same time, and on a different matter, he wished to refer to the last point made by
Minister Ahmed concerning the process which had been launched in Dhaka, in parallel to the workdone in preparation for the High-level Meeting, which essentially complimented that work.  A joint
inter-agency mission, comprising officials from UNCTAD, ITC, UNDP, ESCAP and WTO, hadvisited Dhaka last summer and held intensive discussions with Bengali officials.  The results of those
discussions were reflected both in document WT /LDC/HL12/Add.1 and in the Integrated Country
Programme for Bangladesh.
9. A representative of the ITC commented on the integrated response elaborated by the relevant
agencies in the framework of the High Level Meetin g towards meeting the priority needs identified by
the government of Bangladesh in the field of fo reign trade development and promotion.  The needs-
assessment prepared by the Ministry of Commerce provided a good basis on which to develop a well
focused technical assistance programme combining the national skills available in the government of
Bangladesh and the private sector with the skills of the six organisations concerned.  He was of theview that document WT/LDC/HL12/ Add.1 responded, in an effective way, to most of the needs
identified.
10. As the representative of UNCTAD had mentioned, the Ministry for Commerce and Industry
had, in cooperation with UNCTAD and ITC, already developed an integrated country programme for
strengthening the supply capacity for exportable goods and services of Bangladesh.  As also
mentioned, that country programme was based on the recommendations of the multi-agency mission
which had visited Dhaka in May/June of this year and on the various comments made to the
representatives of the agencies during the sectoral round-table meeting on the integrated country
programme held in Dhaka in September.  It also contained the comments made by the private sectorduring a meeting at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in late September 1997.  The
proposed integrated country programme would, if implemented, contribute to a large degree to the
achievement of the government's priorities and goals in the trade sector.  He therefore sincerely hoped
that the donor countries represented would favourably consider the proposed projects for funding.  He
also suggested that the government of Bangladesh bring the documents to the attention of the donorgroup meeting to be held in Dhaka in November.
11. He continued by noting that as ITC was the focal point in the UN system for technical
cooperation in the area of trade promotion and export development, it had had the privilege over the
last two decades to be a favourite partner of Bangladesh.  During that period, ITC had been entrustedwith the implementation of a number of technical cooperation projects addressing some of the priority
needs listed in the integrated country framework.  ITC had worked closely with the Export Promotion
Bureau and private sector organizations such as the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and
most of the manufacturers and exporters associations in the country.  Indeed, ITC had just completed
a technical cooperation project on export promo tion which had been funded by UNDP.  Technical
assistance had been provided to the Export Promotion Bureau as well as to a large number of export-
orientated enterprises in the field of ready-made garments, knitwear, leather and leather goods,
computer soft-ware, cut flowers, ceramic tableware, stuffed toys, gold jewellery and handicrafts.  ITC
had made a contribution to the government's and the private sector's own efforts to attain a remarkable
growth rate in exports for Bangladesh.  In addition to these national projects, Bangladesh had
benefitted from technical cooperation provided through inter-regional and regional projects such as,
for example, the ITC programme on the Uruguay Round agreements.  In carrying out these technicalWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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cooperation activities, ITC had drawn extensively on national expertise available in Bangladesh, both
at institutional and at individual levels, and would continue to do so in the future for the
implementation of all its technical cooperation programmes.  ITC was pleased to join hands with the
other agencies in the integrated approach and felt that such an approach generated a synergy effect
whereby activities and input of one organization would reinforce the effect of inputs by other
organizations to the benefit of the foreign trade sector of the country.
12. The representative of the European Communities said that relations between the European
Communities and Bangladesh dated back to 1973 and that an EC-Bangladesh commercial cooperation
agreement had been signed as early as 1976.  The main form of cooperation envisaged in that
agreement had been trade promotion, participation in trade fairs and seminars, and the provision of
experts and economic cooperation aimed at launching joint ventures and encouraging foreign
investors to participate in Bangladesh's indus trialisation programme.  Under that agreement,
Bangladesh had become a major recipient of the European Communities' technical and financial aid.According to the government of Bangladesh's own information, the EC Development Programme to
Bangladesh was currently the fifth largest, and in terms of grant aid the third largest. It was in the
mutual interest of the European Communities and the government of Bangladesh to develop trade and
investment further, and indeed, negotiations for what was called a third generation cooperation
agreement encompassing all aspects of cooperation had begun last March.  Development cooperationwas by far the most important component of the EC's cooperation with Bangladesh and indeed, the
EC's development cooperation with Bangladesh was the second largest in Asia; moreover Bangladesh
was one of the largest recipients in the world of EC food aid.  To sum up, since 1976, the EC had
financed projects amounting to  approximately ECU700 million which had been completed, and as of
December 1996 almost ECU500 million had been committed to ongoing projects.  The strategiceconomic cooperation objectives of the European Communities were to support the government of
Bangladesh's efforts to deregulate the economic environment, to support profitable market-oriented
and environmentally sound ventures which generated value added and employment, and to link
scientific and technical cooperation activities with priority areas of EC development cooperation.  The
recent moves in Bangladesh to liberalise the economy coupled with increases in the EC's regionaleconomic cooperation activities had increased regional economic cooperation opportunities.  Turning
to more specific measures, the European Communities had recently taken important steps to enhance
market access for the least-developed countries, including Bangladesh.  The European Communities
had decided to eliminate discrimination among the least-developed countries.  All least-developed
countries would now benefit from the same conditions of access as was available under the LoméConvention whether they were members of the Lomé  Convention or not.  The European Council had
also decided that it would simplify rules of origin, and he noted that the documentation provided by
the government of Bangladesh for the meeting contained a specific reference to this item.  The
European Communities had taken note of the complaints raised by the least-developed countries that
too strict criteria for conferring origin constituted a serious problem.  A derogation from the normal
rules of origin had therefore been granted to a number of countries, including Bangladesh.  For some
of those countries, the derogation was already in force since August, and it was intended to enter intoforce for Bangladesh in the coming week and would then apply retrospectively as of  15 October.  He
noted that the documentation provided for the meeting reflected the importance which the government
of Bangladesh attached to administrative reform, in other words, the removal of red tape and, in
particular, the emphasis on the need to streamline and accelerate customs procedures.  In this
connection he wished to draw the attention of the delegation of Bangladesh to the important ongoingwork in that area in a number of international institutions, including more recently in the WTO.  As an
active WTO participant, he encouraged Bangladesh to take part in a working group in the area of
trade facilitation.
13. The representative of Japan said that stability and continuity of economic policy were
important for the sound development of international trade and foreign investment.  His government
highly appreciated that the new Bangladesh go vernment continued the previous government'sWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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economic diversification policies and further promoted these policies envisaging the establishment of
an export industry, revising the legal system for foreign and private investment, establishing an export
processing zone and by privatizing national enterprises.  Bangladesh had marked a successful story in
the export of garments and knitwear products.  This was encouraging and, as a mid-term to long-term
objective, Bangladesh should make efforts in building export capacity through infrastructure
establishment and through human resource development.  As a short-term objective, it would besuitable to explore new exportable products so as to diversify exports.  Regarding the development of
domestic enterprises he noted a slight tendency for indirect investment towards Bangladesh;  however
most of the foreign companies which invested in Bangladesh were 100 per cent foreign owned.  He
therefore hoped that Bangladesh would make further efforts towards establishing joint-venture style
enterprises as these facilitated the transfer of technology and know-how.  It was important to develop
domestic enterprises in the field of manufacturing.  He further noted that a stable domestic political
situation was important for trade and foreign invest ment.  His delegation thus hoped that the recent
confrontation between the government and the oppos ing party would be settled through constructive
dialogue in order to maintain a stable domestic political situation.  Finally, he considered that trade-
related capacity building in Bangladesh was closely linked to the establishment and the strengthening
of the general economic foundations as a whole.  Action was therefore also expected on the part of
Bangladesh, for example efforts to privatize various projects.  The Japanese government's technicalcooperation had been concentrated in the field of agricultural administration, socio-economic
infrastructure and measures to cope with floods, and in that connection Japan had received trainees
and sent experts and volunteers.  Cooperation in the field of trade and investment was rather limited.
However, on the basis of the needs assessment which had been presented, Japan wished to make a
serious effort to cooperate with the government of Bangladesh.  Bangladesh still needed assistance inthe field of basic human needs and in the field of infrastructure development.  Japan would continue
that kind of cooperation, taking into account the need for the activation and revitalisation of trade and
investment.
14. The representative of the United Kingdom said that his remarks were divided into four parts;
the wider policy background, the integrated framew ork and the needs assessment, the UK's own
approach and a forward look.  On the wider policy background, he congratulated Bangladesh on the
progress made in developing a strong and growing basic manufacturing sector despite the problems
faced such as overcrowding and vulnerability to natural disasters.  His delegation welcomed the recent
reforms made to diversify the manufacturing sector into commodities with higher growth potential
and to eliminate quantitative restrictions for imports and replace them by tariffs.  He noted the rapidgrowth in exports in the ready-made garments sector, and said it was regrettable that exports in that
sector had been substantially reduced due to confusion over the requirements of the GSP origin rules.
It was for such reasons that the rules of origin should be harmonized and simplified and that, in the
short-term, requests for derogations from these rules should be considered favourably.  The European
Communities' recent agreement to Bangladesh's derogation request should hopefully alleviate the
problem in the short-term.  He drew the attention of the agencies and others to the relevant results of
the two Commonwealth meetings.  The reports of the Commonwealth Business Forum and the
Edinburgh Commonwealth Economic Declaration were in circulation and he found it noteworthy how
their themes of trade and investment chimed well with the themes at the ongoing High-Level Meeting.
For instance, the Commonwealth trade and investment facility and the strengthened Commonwealth
partnership for technology management could directly compliment the Integrated Response.  He noted
that the needs assessment indicated a wide range of needs, all of them valid, and that the challengewas to prioritise.  The paper rightly identified export diversification as an important priority.  It
underlined the importance that needed to be attached to export promotion schemes, to expanded
accessibility and improved efficiency of administration.  Within the area of trade-related technical
cooperation, high priority needed to be given to addressing import liberalisation as well.
15. A further point which had struck him was sustaina bility.  If his country was going to invest in
human and institutional capacity in Bangladesh, it needed to be assured that the investments would beWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 7
used to deliver the expected benefits.  Sustainability should therefore be kept in mind.  The UK was
refocussing its development efforts on the elimination of poverty and encouraged economic growth
which benefitted the poor.  It envisaged helping develop trade and investment to provide sustainable
livelihoods.  His delegation thus shared the objectives of the Integrated Response and wished to align
the efforts of his country with those of the six agencies.  The Integrated Response was a useful start,
but he urged the agencies to work closely with their own authorities, with the private sector and withother donors in developing it.  The UK was invo lved on a wide-front in Bangladesh, including
technical support to help create an enabling envi ronment for private infrastructure development and
support to micro-enterprises.  The scope for further cooperation would be considered.  For example, a
trade-focus project helping to establish the Bangladesh export marketing assistance programme would
soon be started.  It would be a programme for fair trade producers aimed at enabling them to expand
into mainstream export markets through a range of services, such as trade promotion, market
information and advice and technical assistance in marketing and product development.  Lookingforward to further opportunities he said that the challenge before all at the High-Level Meeting was to
turn the momentum which the Meeting had helped to generate into a forward looking process by
agreeing on specific follow up which would deliver practical results which could be measured.  Those
were themes which the UK had been making in ot her discussions and he hoped that they would be
picked up later.  Four specific points struck him in the Integrated Response:  costing and prioritizingof the proposals contained in the documentation, allocation of responsibilities for implementation,
mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation which in his authorities' view should be based on
indicators which would give donors a clear idea of how they could measure what had been achieved.
If the papers and what the Meeting had provided could serve as a basis to build on, the UK could
move forward and he was convinced that other partners  would wish to fit in and to contribute to the
process as well.  He wished to get a clear idea of how bilateral donors could fit into and contribute to
the process.
16. The representative of the United States said that USAID had a resident Mission in Dhaka
where most of the decisions were made about the activities that the United States undertook.  The
major programmes concentrated on family planning, health and nutrition.  However, the United Statesdid have a continuing economic growth strategy and some project activities, particularly orientated
towards the development of rural small and medium size enterprises and toward the development of
higher value agricultural production.  The activities of interest in relation to the USAID Mission in
Dhaka were those directed at implementing sanitary and phytosanitary standards that would improve
Bangladesh's possibilities to access major export markets.  Of interest was also the proposal toprovide technical assistance and training in the development of new processed export products and
improving the quality of existing products so that income could be raised in the agricultural sector.
He urged his counterparts from Bangladesh and the ITC to discuss these project proposals with the
USAID Mission in Dhaka. He said that the proposal  that the Government of Bangladesh and the IMF
had discussed to improve the system of customs valuation seemed appealing.  There were a number of
areas where he had reservations about whether the proposed areas of activity deserved the set priority.
He suggested that thought should be given as to whether it was really good use of the human andpolitical resources available in Bangladesh to in troduce an elaborate system of safeguards against
imports, or whether it was better to use the scarce resources in other areas that would have a more
liberalizing impact.  A second issue had to do with the proposal to explore ways of subsidizing
agricultural production.  His delegation was certainly a proponent of agricultural development in
Bangladesh, but he wondered whether subsidizing was really the right priority.
17. The representative of Korea said that his countr y, as a developing country, had a long history
of cooperation and investment in Bangladesh.  Korea had put the priority on basic human needs such
as public health and poverty alleviation through project aid, grant aid, training of personnel and
despatch of medical doctors, etc.  The grant aid programme to Bangladesh had been expanded
recently and Bangladesh was now one of the top ten countries amongst the total of 130 countriesreceiving grant aid from Korea.  From 1991 to 1997 Korea had set up a friendship hospital worthWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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US$1 million and had trained 158 personnel, despatched 53 volunteers and 5 medical doctors.  Korea
would strengthen its technical assistance programme to Bangladesh in order to transfer Korea's
development experience and encourage self-reliance efforts in Bangladesh in years to come.  The
main areas of Korea's assistance would be the improvement of basic public health and the alleviation
of the poverty through income raising activities.   In 1998, Korea would review the second Korea-
Bangladesh friendship hospital construction project which totalled US$2 million Korea had alreadyapproved a project of infrastructure development, in particular the improvement of a power
distribution project and a locomotive purchase project with a US$14 million soft loan from the
Economic Development Fund of Korea.  Korea was one of the major private investors in Bangladesh.
Due to competitiveness in the labour market, Korean companies' investments in Bangladesh continued
to increase in terms of number and value.  There was great potential in the textiles, clothing, leather,
footwear, non-metallic minerals and petrol-chemicals sectors.   He was confident that the economic
viability of Bangladesh would attract more private investment from Korean companies.  As totechnical assistance needs identified by Bangladesh, he said that Korea was currently providing
various technical assistance programmes in human resource development, in particular a training
course in trade promotion strategies, a customs administration training course and the despatch of
experts in the field of trade promotion.  Furthermore, the Korean government was sponsoring two
WTO training sessions in 1997 worth US$450,000, to assist developing countries overcomedifficulties in the implementation of the WTO Agreements.  He hoped that Bangladesh would
participate actively in that programme.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
CHAD
Chair:  Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke (Chad)
18. The Chairman said that the basic documentation for this meeting was contained in
WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.2. The Chad delegation included, in  addition to senior civil servants from the
Commerce Department, representatives of the private sector, the Chamber of Commerce andemployers.  Turning to the needs assessment, he said that the needs identified were as follows:
(i) study of the impact of the WTO on the Chad economy in order to highlight the constraints related
to the special situation of Chad as a landlocked country; (ii) assistance to implement legislation to
bring it into conformity with the WTO Agreements; (iii) assistance in the area of training;
(iv) assistance to create  trade promotion and trade financing institutions.
19. The Director of Trade of the Ministry of Trade of Chad, Mr. Mahamat Bahradine, said that in
the framework of the global adjustment programme set up in 1994 and after several years of slack
economic performance, the economic performance of Chad had improved and his country had found
new growth and a new macro-economic stability. GDP grew by 3.5 per cent in 1995 and 10 per cent
in 1996 whilst the population growth rate was 2.5 per cent.  This reflected the adjustment to the new
valuation of the CFA Franc and showed the new si tuation in flows of trade. Economic agents had
made efforts to capitalize on the trade liberalization measures taken in 1996 on the instigation ofinternational organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank, UNDP and the European Communities.
Public finances also showed a clear improvement from a deficit of CFA27 million to CFA12 million.
External accounts moved from a deficit of CFA12 b illion in 1993 to a surp lus in the current account
of CFA6.3 billion. This improvement of the m acro-economic framework had been followed by an
increase in investment.  The flow of foreign investments as well as domestic savings had increased.Public investments funded by bilateral and multilateral contributions amounted to 12.4 per cent of
GDP. In contrast, private investment was weak and represented only 0.9 of the GDP and was not
showing any sign of recovery.  This situation demonstrated that the improvement in the macro-
economic framework had to be sustained.
20. Chad had to improve its macro-economic environment by aligning its legislation to the WTO
Agreements.  Chad had to envisage adding value to its products in order for it to be competitive on the
world market.  Costs had doubled since the devaluation of the CFA Franc: for example, the cost of
maintenance and installation for telecommunications and other infrastructure had increased.
Improving the quality as well as a decrease in the costs of this infrastructure were among the main
objectives of his government.  With the help of the agencies and other development partners, hisgovernment had started a process of reforms in order to create a favourable business environment by
simplifying the administrative procedures to set up private enterprises, by simplifying commercial
law, the procedures for the registration of busines s, and the Investment Code in order to ensure
objectivity.  Liberalization of trade was taking place between members of the Central African
Customs and Economic Union. Privatization of non-profitable state companies and injection of
private capital was envisaged.
21. In order to strengthen these activities to improve his country's capacity to implement and
benefit from the WTO Agreements, Chad had indicated its need for technical assistance in the
following areas: (a) study on the potential impact of the WTO Agreements on the Chad's economy;
(b) assistance in the drafting of laws and legislation in the field of anti-dumping and customs
evaluation in conformity with WTO agreements;  (c) assistance in the field of notifications;
(d) assistance in the field of investment; (e) assistance in its efforts to decrease the costs ofinfrastructural development and transportation; (f) training of customs officers on customs evaluation
and on rules of origin; (g) assistance to the set up a Trade Point; (h) training of technicians to
implement WTO rules; (i) assistance to train lawyers specialising in business law; (j) organization of aWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 10
national seminar on GSP and GSTP; (k) support for fiscal reform; (l) support for the organization of
national, sub-regional and international rules to place Chad within the Central African Customs and
Economic Union; (m) training in marketing of comm odities; (n) training in the areas of marketing,
merchandising and the creation of enterprises orientated towards the needs of women; (o) training in
the new information communication technology such as the Internet; (p) training of the economic
agents in conducting international trade; (q) setting up of a mutual credit fund; (r) study on theimprovement of exports of some sub-sectors in the field of agriculture, livestock, fruits and
vegetables; (s)  support for training of illiterate women; (t)  study on the possibilities to improve the
tourism sector; (u) study on the design of an appropriate trade policy  for Chad; (v) a study on
exchange risks;  and (w) support for the identification of problems.
22. These could be grouped together under four headings. (1) study on the impact of the WTO
agreements on the Chad's economy. Chad did not take part in the Uruguay Round of trade
negotiations and had not assessed the consequences of these Agreements for its economy.  Ways toimprove Chad's competitiveness had to be examined. (2) Assistance in drafting its legislation in
compliance with WTO.  Chad had not yet followed up on its WTO commitments and technical
assistance was needed to draw up its legislation and regulations in conformity with the WTO
agreements so as to allow Chad to honour its commitments.  (3) Training activities. A profound lack
of training for people in the public and private sectors existed. (4) Assistance in the creation ofpromotion instruments for trade financing.  Without adequate financial instruments it was difficult for
Chad to establish satisfactory trade conditions and it lacked the necessary assistance to provide well
performing services  to manage bottlenecks.
23. The representative of UNDP, speaking on behalf of the six agencies recalled that Chad was a
landlocked country which had been adversely affected by a civil war for a number of years.  The
process undertaken at the beginning of the 1990s was followed by an important national
reconstruction effort.  Since 1995, the government had adopted a liberal economic policy and one
which, together with the decision to devalue the CFA Franc, had enabled it to recover some of its
growth.  Growth in 1996 reached 5.3 per cent in r eal terms, and inflation went down to 6 per cent.
These still fragile results had helped to enlist massi ve support of the international community to the
efforts deployed by the government and people of Chad in order to restore the economy of the
country. It was in this context that the six agencies had replied to the request of the government and
had manifested interest in the needs assessment.  He  referred to the basic document and said that the
needs and technical assistance were set out under 35 headings. He would limit himself to the priority
needs expressed by the government which responded to two major objectives.  On the one hand, theadjustment of trade policy and the conformity of national legislation to the WTO Agreements and the
reduction of structural constraints, in particular human, institutional and physical constraints which
limited Chad's offer on international markets.
24. The six agencies had undertaken to pursue the following actions:  the IMF would review and
update customs legislation and assist the government in rationalizing its import tariff and coordinate it
with the domestic indirect tax system. The WTO woul d provide Chad with assistance in aligning its
national laws and regulations with WTO Agreements, and in 1998 hold a national seminar on themultilateral trading system including a special session on notification obligations.  Other regional
seminars were envisaged in 1998/99 for French speaking African countries including Chad.  As part
of its national private sector support system, UNDP was to provide assistance to support the
Government in its review of the Commercial Code, the Investment Code and the Labour Code.
Moreover, UNDP, envisaged support in the creation of a Trade Court in conjunction with frenchbilateral cooperation.  The World Bank had drafted a regional Investment Code which would be
presented at the next Council of Ministers of the Central African Customs and Economic Union.
With respect to supply-side constraints which limited  Chad's offer on international markets, the six
agencies had committed themselves to undertake action at three levels: elaboration of various
economic codes, support for institutions to assist exporting enterprises and the development of humanresources.  Concerning the first level, support to the drawing up of economic codes, UNDP hadWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 11
prepared a study on the economic impact on the Chad economy of WTO Agreements and the World
Bank was undertaking a study on the liberalization of trade in the CACEU countries.  UNDP had
committed itself to financing complimentary studies if necessary.  These studies should serve as a
basis for the definition of a coherent trade policy.   As part of its national programme for support to
the private sector, the UNDP envisaged strengthening human resource capacities through the training
of national managers.  Along the same lines, the WTO would be organizing a three week trainingcourse on trade policy for French speaking countries in 1998/99.  In respect of trade support services,
the International Trade Centre envisaged carrying out a study in 1998 to establish an export promotion
centre. UNCTAD and ITC were ready to assist the government in setting up a Trade Point within the
framework of the World Network of Trade Points. The World Bank provided technical assistance in
the area of standards, quality and export promotion in the context of its Structural Adjustment Loan II.
ITC was envisaging the organization of a seminar on standards and packaging in 1998, along with
UNDP.  Financing was still required for the creation of a national body for standards and qualitycontrol.  As regards transport and transit costs, the World Bank noted that a study had already been
carried out as part of its Transport Project II and the government was urged to apply the
recommendations from that study. With respect to the strengthening of human resources, he noted that
all actions in the Integrated Response contained a large training component.  In concluding, he said
that technical assistance was not sufficient to take up all of the challenges Chad was facing in the fieldof trade. Additional efforts were necessary in order to improve basic infrastructure like water,
electricity, education, roads and the health sector, to integrate women in the development process and
to ensure protection of the environment.  As long as there was no debt relief, this could not be done
without a notable increase of public assistance in development aid.  He called upon donor countries to
increase their contribution to development.  He also called upon representatives of the private sector,both nationally and internationally, to become more involved in the development process.
25. The representative of the European Communities said that there were three particular areas
where support of the EC was specifically requested in the needs assessment. The first was assistance
for transport costs. He recalled that discussions had been held on the indicative programme for Chad
and the EC would take up the matter of transport costs in view of Chad's landlocked situation and theexcessive costs connected with it; a study aimed at reducing transports and transit costs could be
envisaged. Simplification of customs facilities, which remained a problem at present, could also be
examined further in the context of regional cooperation. The second area of action was the creation of
a sub-regional trade fair: because of the important constraints on supply capabilities and basic
structure his authorities were not convinced at this point that this was a priority area.  A third area ofrequested action from the EC was related to the adjustment to the Euro. This was a general problem
for western African countries insofar as they were greatly dependent on European trade flows. He was
of the view that this matter had to be studied and would be taken up at the sub-regional level together
with France.
26. The representative of Japan said that the priority for his country in the area of trade
development in LDCs was capacity building. Trade between Japan and Chad was still limited, not
only due to the constraints mentioned in Chad's needs assessment but also due to the geographicaldistance separating the two countries. This situation could be improved, in particular through
technical cooperation which his country would be providing. Japan's contribution to the reconstruction
of Chad was focused on the development of human resources, in particular in the agricultural sector,
as a sector with under-exploited export potential.  Although assistance was limited, his country
envisaged tripling the amount of its programme for technical cooperation.  Japan's approach todevelopment cooperation was a demand-driven one and he welcomed the same approach in the
Integrated Framework.  His authorities intended to continue their dialogue in the context of the
Integrated Framework and as part of the preparatory process for the second Conference on the
Development of Africa that Japan was or ganizing in October 1998 in Tokyo.
27. The representative of France said that, very soon, Chad would be able to experience notable
changes in the restructuring of its economy and a mainly pastoral agricultural country would becomeWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 12
an oil exporting country: an opportunity for Chad as well as a risk. This structural change required the
implementation of new trade competencies if Chad wanted to benefit from oil exports. The
international community could make appreciable contributions in specific areas.  Moreover, Chad
being a landlocked country was remote from ports which posed communication and transport
problems. Chad, in its needs assessment mentioned the problem of border areas, which was a problem
that all landlocked countries experienced and only progress in the development of relevant lawswould enable the necessary improvements.  Chad was a member of several sub-regional integration
agreements, such as the Central African Customs and Economic Union, the Economic Community of
Central African States and the ACP/EC Lomé Convention, representing considerable legal
instruments for the sub-regional integration of Chad.  The growth and diversification of Chad's offer
of industrial and agricultural products, such as textiles, cotton, leather and meat represented long-term
hopes for Chad. The implementation of international trade regulations was necessary to allow Chad to
integrate into the world economy and he encouraged Chad to call upon the many training possibilitiesoffered by the multilateral agencies as well a by his country.
28. The representative of the Central African Republic noted that both Chad and his country were
two landlocked countries in Central Africa, with many similar problems.  The significant progress
which Chad had achieved in stabilizing its macro-economic structures and policies had facilitated the
emergence of a new class of businessmen who had broken with the past in order to assist Chad infinding a way out of a stagnating economy. Given th e problems with which the region had been faced,
he confirmed that peace had been restored in Central Africa.  The Central African Republic continued
to follow the example of its neighbouring country Chad in order to improve its development.
29. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank said that it would be possible for the
IDB to provide a contribution to the study on the impact of WTO Agreements on Chad as well as for
training activities. IDB's assistance would be coordinated with the six agencies and there were other
activities which could be envisaged and negotiated directly with beneficiary countries.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 13
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
DJIBOUTI
Chair:  Ambassador Rossier (Switzerland)
30. The Chairman recalled that the Round Table Sessions had as its objective an integrated
approach to technical assistance with respect to tr ade.  It was not meant to present the actions being
carried out by each of the delegations in Djibouti.  The basic documentation was contained inWT/LDC/HL/12/Add.3.
31. The representative of Djibouti, Rifki Bamkhrama, Minister of Trade and Tourism, welcomed
the new approach adopted by the WTO and the other institutions in the sense that they had given the
responsibility for evaluating the technical assistan ce needs to the countries themselves. The collective
response of the multilateral organizations would allow for improved monitoring of technical
assistance to avoid waste and duplication of efforts which were at the origin of the loss of confidence
and a certain fatigue between donors and LDCs. The results expected from this process could perhapsbe better evaluated over time.  The Republic of Djibouti had some 60 million people and was open to
the world at large.  Unlike most LDCs the economy of Djibouti did not rely on agriculture, which
accounted only for 3 per cent of the economy, nor on industry, accounting for 15 per cent,  but rather
on the service and the trade sector,  accounting for 80 per cent of economic activity.  Djibouti acted in
conformity with the principles of WTO such as national treatment since there was no differencebetween nationals and foreigners with respect to the taxes on the establishment of companies. In
addition, Djibouti had a lot of potential because of its infrastructure of ports, telecommunications and
the banking sector.  Over the past few years his country had undertaken a reform of the economic
environment benefitting the private sector by creating a number of legal instruments such as the new
Investment Code, a reform of the Corporate Laws and the Industrial Free Zone Law.  At the sametime, Djibouti had adopted over the past two years a structural adjustment programme to stabilize
public finances. His country intended to enhance its regional role in trans-shipment and for exports of
the neighbouring landlocked countries and in this resp ect it would be interesting to identify the needs
of the other countries and to establish profitable links with them. His country also envisaged
designing a dynamic policy in order to foster the development of foreign investment and of training ofadministrative and business personnel. It wanted to encourage investment by setting up structures
which would facilitate the financing and guarantees needed as well as identifying the means of
reducing costs of production.
32. The representative of WTO, speaking on behalf of the six agencies said that the integrated
response to Part A of the needs assessment (trade policy) showed that the institutions involved were
committed to meeting the needs on trade policy and were seeking to improve human resources, to
provide institutional support to the organs dealing w ith trade policy in Djibouti and to enable Djibouti
to implement the WTO Agreements. These three aspects would be addressed first of all through better
dissemination of information on the various multilateral agreements, in particular through regionalworkshops and seminars for french speaking LDCs in 1998 and 1999 under the auspices of the WTO,
as well as through a national seminar in Djibouti. He hoped that through these activities and through
the African inter-regional programme under the auspices of the UNDP, human and institutional
capacities would be enhanced throughout Africa.  Secondly, appropriate training of future trainers
over the next few years, as foreseen under the programme called PATARE (Programme d'assistancetechnique pour la réforme économique) under the aegis of the World Bank, as well as through WTO
training courses on trade policy with as their main aim the training of future participants from
Djibouti on aspects of the multilateral  trading system. Training in negotiating tactics were included in
these training courses. The responses given by the six institutions were aimed at enabling Djibouti to
discharge its responsibilities as a Member of the WTO, in particular to assist Djibouti in its legislativeWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 14
reform to bring its legislation into conformity with  WTO rules as well as in terms of its notification
obligations.  This assistance would be provided over the next three years taking into account the
special and differential treatment given to least developed countries under the various provisions of
the multilateral agreements.  Part B of the needs assessment dealt mainly with the reduction of the
cost of production factors, with the transit role of Djibouti vis-a-vis  neighbouring regions, and with
the important issue of attracting investment. Assistance would, in the first instance, be providedthrough studies, in particular on the promotion of the advantages of Djibouti internationally as well as
on the energy sector.  Such assistance should then, after today's round table, be better defined with
each of the six agencies individually in operational terms as well as in terms of finance.   With regard
to promotion of trade and support activities, paragraph B(q) in the document, in particular with
respect to human resources, logistics and trade information, the six international institutions were also
in a position to meet the needs of the Djibouti government, in particular through the participation of
officials from Djibouti in a management seminar dealing with port handling services which wouldtake place in November.  Teaching materials would be provided to the competent services; UNCTAD
intended to set up a Trade Point;  support would be provided in the areas of quality management and
processing of products. ITC would carry out an id entification mission of the needs in the area of
international trade techniques and on questions of export finance and trade support services at the
beginning of 1998.  With respect to market access, paragraph B(v), the six organizations committedthemselves to provide Djibouti with the training and information required in particular on the use of
GSP schemes and by setting up a system of trade information on external markets.  As regards
information technology, the six organizations were prepared to provide in 1998 the necessary
equipment to the Trade Ministry in order to enab le its officials to benefit from adequate trade
information.
33. The representative of the European Communities said that in the Lomé Convention for the
next four years the Commission focused on the same preponderant service and trans-shipment sectors.
He emphasised the role of the private sector in these sectors, in particular in terms of the rehabilitation
of the communication networks. Djibouti's importance for trans-shipment in the region, in the Horn ofAfrica, in particular with Ethiopia was recognized and called for improved interlinkages between rail
and road. Another problem area was customs. The European Communities, in collaboration with
UNCTAD worked on the establishment of a customs facility in the region aimed at simplifying
customs procedures and automatizing the procedures .  Djibouti as a member of COMESA was part of
this initiative. He drew attention to the UNCTAD initiative for the development of trade in Djiboutiwith particular focus on information technology.
34. The representative of France recalled that his country was one of the first suppliers to and
investors in Djibouti. Financial cooperation between  the two countries was very active. Bilateral
cooperation covered all the sectors essential to the development of the economy of Djibouti includingthe strengthening of its export capacity, health, education, urban development, infrastructure in
general, education and justice. He highlighted the importance of the harmonization of trade
legislation, such as for intellectual property and in general to ensure the stability and clarity of the
legal environment in which trade and investment developed. He welcomed work undertaken in 1994
to revise the Investment Code. He also emphasised the importance of strengthening the private sector.The market of the European Communities was open bu t it was not enough to offer an open market to
be successful in export promotion.  Furthermore, information on outlets was essential.  He referred to
an instrument established by France in 1991 and specifically directed to developing countries, Promex
LDC, which offered developing countries export promotion training.  Between 1992 and 1995 France
had organized seminars on this issue to the benefit of some 18 representatives of least developedcountries, presenting the French market and establishing business contacts as well as publicising
LDC exports.
35. The representative of Japan said that his authorities attached particular importance to capacity
building.  They welcomed the efforts made by the government of Djibouti which had led to a better
stabilization of the country, important for the development of trade activities as well to attractWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 15
investment. Trade between Djibouti and Japan show ed a surplus for Japan. The main constraints in
Djibouti to developing investment and trade were lack of infrastructure to attract investment, lack of
products for exports, high costs of labour and a lack of human resources, as well as a heavy debt
burden.  Japan had concentrated its efforts in the development of human resources and the overall
structure of the country.  His country had organized training courses in Japan in the sectors of
telecommunications and shipping; had given a grant of ¥8 billion with emphasis on projects such asthe organization of road structures and port facilities. Technical assistance was a priority sector in
Japan's aid programme for Djibouti which would run until 1998.  It had constantly increased over the
last 3 years.  His authorities were ready to continue their dialogue which had been initiated today with
the authorities of Djibouti either here in Geneva or Paris or elsewhere as well as to ensure better
coordination with other organizations, multilateral and bilateral.
36. The representative of Italy said that his coun try had a cooperation tradition with Djibouti.  In
any follow-up to the High Level Meeting, his authorities would take account of the needs assessment
drawn up by Djibouti as well as the po ints made by the European Commission.
37. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank stressed the importance of the Integrated
Framework. The Islamic Development Bank had clos e cooperation with the six institutions and with
WTO Members.  In addition, the Islamic Development Bank would remain in close consultation with
the delegation of Djibouti.  He acknowledged the different needs as regards the human andinstitutional capacity building of Djibouti to allow it to become part and parcel of the new world trade
order.
38. The representative of Egypt said that his government had a good and historical relationship
with Djibouti, as they belonged to the same cont inent, shared a common heritage. It was therefore
imperative for Egypt to provide all the assistance it could to its neighbours from Djibouti.  It hadalways provided Djibouti with technical assistance through the Egyptian Fund for Technical
Assistance for Africa. Egypt was ready to provide Djibouti expertise in the area of market access.
Djibouti was invited to participate in a seminar which was being organized in Cairo with the
participation of the WTO on the implementation of the obligations of the LDCs and other developing
countries to meet the obligations under the WTO Agreements.
39. The Chairman asked the secretariat of the WTO for a clarification as regards WTO's intention
to organize a regional seminar for the training of trainers for francophone countries in Djibouti.40. The representative of the WTO clarified that this type of short course was usually designed
for a variety of countries irrespective of their particular problems.  Part of the short course however
dealt specifically with the impact of the WTO Agreements on the national economy, thereby focusingspecifically  on the national economic situation of individual countries.
41. The Chairman asked to what degree the European Communities on the one hand and its
member states on the other individually coordinated their aid programmes.42. The representative of the European Communities said that, as Djibouti was amongst the Lomé
Convention countries, specific procedures for consultations were in place through, for example,
national indicative programmes. The European Development Fund had a specific heading for each
member country and for each ACP region.  In this particular instance, a budget existed which wascalled the Indicative National Programme for Djibouti. In addition a Regional Indicative Programme
for East Africa existed.  Activities were designed in consultation with the country concerned since the
Lomé Convention was a unique experience in terms of partnership. The programmes were submitted
for the consideration of the country concerned th rough the EDF Committee where each member state
gave its endorsement for each programme. The member states were therefore fully involved in thedecision making process.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 16
43. The representative of France agreed and added that the member states of the European
Communities had a clear ongoing vision of what was done at the level of the European Communities,
drawing inspiration from the on-going dialogue in the field in the countries themselves where its
projects were being implemented, through diplomatic missions, trade representations and the
delegation of the Commission as well as representations of other international organizations.
44. The representative of Djibouti said that one question remained, in particular the involvement
of the countries in the aid coordinating mechanisms offered by the international organizations as well
as the modalities of the implementation of these programmes.
45. The Chairman said that the round table was not a conclusion, but the beginning of a process.
The integrated approach ensured the possibility to ma ximise the use of the funds available, putting the
recipient country at the centre of this focus.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 17
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
GUINEA
Chair:  Laurence Dubois-Destrizais (France)
46. The Chair said that the basic documentation for this meeting was contained in
WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.4.
47. The Minister for Industry, Commerce and Handicraft of Guinea, Mr. Camara said that it was
clear that the WTO Agreements had committed developing countries to review in depth their trade
strategy and to set up an institutional and legal system for the development of trade. It was, however,
not clear yet that the opportunities provided by the WTO Agreements would benefit all developing
countries in general and LDCs in particular, if measures were not taken to solve certain problems and
to take away some of the major obstacles to a balanced development of these countries. His country
therefore  welcomed the organization of the High-Level Meeting. Requirements for technical
assistance related to trade were presented in the needs assessment and focused on trade promotionmeasures, strengthening of national private and public institutions, modernization of trade information
systems, on the need for assistance in Guinea's adjustment process and its adaptation of national
legislation in conformity with the WTO agreements. Guinea was part of a complicated regional
environment and of a group of more than five countries in the CFA zone which were trying to
harmonize their customs tariffs. The needs assessment pointed to a lack of appropriate infrastructureand the need to increase and strengthen Guinea's capacity to diversify its production for export.
Access to foreign markets was also important  for Guinea. Two years ago his country had encountered
problems in its export efforts due to poor quality of its packaging which led to complaints by
importing countries.  In response, Guinea had imported packaging from Europe, to no avail since the
question of packaging was raised again. This example illustrated the kind of problems his countryencountered in adapting its products to European standards.  In addition to multilateral solutions,
those at bilateral level should also be considered.  He was looking forward to a continuation of the
dialogue with the six agencies with a view to elaborating the implementation modalities and
timetable, according  to the Integrated  Framework.
48. The representative of ITC, speaking on behalf of the six agencies focused his presentation of
the Integrated Response on five major areas. First, adjustment of national legislation to bring it into
compliance with the WTO Agreements. For this category of activities, the WTO, UNCTAD, UNDP
and the ITC to some extent were proposing training of human resources, the strengthening of the
private sector and the constitution of a focal point for information on the WTO Agreements. Second,
trade analysis and negotiating capacity: UNDP, the World Bank and WTO were proposing specialprojects, with WTO to organize training sessions for senior civil servants involved in international
trade negotiations. Third, the creation of a favourable climate for the development of production for
export. The IMF, World Bank and UNDP would assist in the diversification of exports through
various projects, covering in particular agriculture. ITC would provide assistance to define a strategic
approach for exports, in particular the creation of a favourable export climate.  Fourth, trade
promotion and trade support services: UNDP, ITC, UNCTAD and WTO proposed various activities
in the area of trade information, strengthening of the role of the Chambers of Commerce, assistance tothe private sector, improvement of the quality of production for export.   He noted in this context that
the Islamic Development Bank had received a similar request from the Guinea authorities.  Fifth,
information technology: WTO, World Bank, UNCTAD, ITC, UNDP proposed actions in this area.
49. In concluding he noted that implementation and establishing a schedule would be part of the
follow-up process as defined in the Integrated Framework.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 18
50. The representative of Belgium said that Belgian cooperation had for several years been
involved in measures of debt-relief. Belgium would buy back consolidated debt under the Paris Club
rules and offer interested countries the possibility to buy back these debts, not in strong currencies but
in their own national currency. Belgium started its first operation of this kind in 1996 with Guinea, for
an amount of US$1 million and his country was still awaiting a concrete offer from Guinea as follow-
up.  Several projects had been identified or envisaged and he took this opportunity to give newimpetus to these negotiations. Turning to trade-related technical assistance, he said that Belgium
would start a cooperation programme with the priv ate sector next year, including trade promotion,
trade liberalization, private sector promotion, corresponding to the sectoral priorities of Belgian
cooperation.
51. The representative of Canada referred to Guinea's assertion that its export potential was
mainly concentrated in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, mining and handicrafts and that the main
constraints to its exports were lack of financin g for production and investment, the weakness on the
supply side in terms of quantity and quality, lack of institutional and human capacities, in particular
lack of knowledge of international trade arrangements and transportation bottlenecks. The needsidentified in the needs assessment reflected this reality. On a bilateral basis Canada's assistance was
mainly concentrated in the energy sector, on issues of social development and on
professional/vocational training.
52. The representative of Japan noted that Japan concentrated its assistance to least developed
countries on capacity building.  Japan mainly provided assistance to Guinea's manufacturing industry,
and its agricultural and fishing sectors.  Japan's programme for 1997/1998 also included information
technology.  His country had also contributed financial assistance to support the Guinean
government's efforts to restructure its economy, amounting to US$25 million in 1996.  Japan's
approach to development cooperation was a demand-driven one and he welcomed the same approachin the Integrated Framework.
53. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said that discussions were under
way between his institution and Guinean authorities on possibilities to provide technical assistance for
international trade; in this context it was the IDB's intention to establish a connection for Guinea to aninformation network called Oasis Net, enabling Guinea to communicate with several international
databases on trade along with its electronic message services. The IDB also envisaged to provide
Guinea with training programmes to train trainers/negotiators, which would strengthen the capacities
of Guinean managers in the conduct of trade and trade negotiations. Other activities such as seminars
and training courses were also envisaged. The assistance in international trade envisaged by IDBwould be coordinated with the six other institutions.
54. The representative of the Common Fund for Co mmodities (CFC) said that in the context of
CFC's programme for supporting LDCs to promote th e export of their commodity-based products, it
had held consultations with the government of Guinea to rehabilitate and develop the export sector forbananas. A feasibility study was going to be undertaken in the coming months.  Furthermore, it
conducted sub-regional projects for livestock market development involving Guinea, Burkina Faso
and Mali in the context of which the Fund was providing support to upgrade the market infrastructure
as well as to rehabilitate and develop common policies for sub-regional livestock marketing. It would
be prepared to consider any other projects in  the commodity-based export sector which the
government of Guinea might wish to present to the Common Fund.
55. The representative of Egypt said that his country envisaged to reduce its tariffs for products
originating in LDCs in general with an averag e ranging between 10-20 per cent. For Guinea, the
agricultural sector seemed to be one of the most important sectors and he expressed Egypt'swillingness to provide Guinea with expertise in this sector.  His authorities were also prepared to
engage in tripartite cooperation with other more advanced countries.  The Egyptian government
intended to give preferential treatment in favour of the LDC for 50 commodities and he hoped thatWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 19
Guinea would be one of the countries to benefit. He recalled that his country was proposing to host a
seminar in Cairo with the WTO to help the LDCs to meet their obligation under the WTO Agreements
and he hoped that Guinea would also participate.
56. The representative of Senegal said that the path which Guinea had chosen as part of its
relationship with the WTO was a relevant and just one. Since 1991 the international community had
recognised the existence of least developed countries but their situation had not changed much despitetwo international conferences on LDCs in 198 1 and 1990. It was widely known that the LDCs
suffered from serious structural problems but he was heartened to see the notion of co-responsibility
and solidarity becoming more meaningful.  The WTO served as a demonstration of such solidarity in
that its Director-General, Mr Renato Ruggiero and its Members were convinced that the economic
development of the LDCs was one of the major challenges as much for the LDCs themselves as for
their partners; and second, in that within WTO, one spoke about issues of trade and it was in the
interest of the international community at large to  assist LDCs in promoting the expansion of their
trading capacities.
57. The representative of Côte d'Ivoire, speaking also in the context of the Round Table for Mali,
said that she welcomed efforts undertaken by the international community for Mali and Guinea.  She
wished to express her country's solidarity with its sister country, Guinea, with which it had built up a
long trade tradition, both bilaterally and within regional arrangements, such as ECOWAS and the
Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa.  These regional arrangements enabled their member
countries to promote trade and give new dynamism to trade between various countries.
58. The representative of Guinea welcomed the statements made and stressed the importance of
coherence among the six institutions which had prepared the High-Level Meeting, also in terms of
policy;  in asking for understanding he was in particular addressing the World Bank and IMF.
59. The Chair recalled that this meeting was only the beginning and she hoped that all the
organizations as well as the LDCs and other countries would stay committed to the exercise and that
proper follow-up would be given.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 20
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
HAITI
Chair:  Ambassador D. Baichoo (Mauritius)
60. The Chairman said that the documentatio n was contained in WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.5. Haiti
and Mauritius had many common characteristics: both small island states, members of the l'Agence de
la Francophonie and of the ACP group of countries.  As small island economies both were vulnerableto external factors.  Haiti, with about 7 million people and other potential assets in the area of
agriculture, agro-industry, craftsmanship and services, particularly tourism, remained a least
developed country.  With a primary school rate of 57 per cent, a GDP which had dropped from 4 per
cent in 1995 to 2 per cent in 1996 and a current inflation rate averaging 23.9 per cent, Haiti was
undergoing a difficult period economically, politically and socially. The structural adjustment
measures put in place in the country since 1994 had been difficult to implement in the absence of
political consensus on the kind of economic reforms required. It was not easy to juggle therequirements of democracy with economic difficulties and social demands.
61. Minister Fresnel Germain, Minister of Trade a nd Industry of Haiti, said that his country was
going through a very difficult time, posing problems for the multilateral institutions which had been
providing assistance to Haiti for over 25 years.  Haiti was in a vulnerable situation which was perhaps
explained by insufficient aid. The poor channelling and orientation of aid to Haiti had not contributed
to any structural improvement and his government was raising the awareness of Haiti's economic
agents of the needs resulting from the process of globalization of the world's economy. Trade was at a
low level in Haiti: exports and imports totalled US$580 million in 1996 or US$84 per capita whereas
in the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbouring c ountry the figure was US$2.6 billion for the same
year and a higher level per capita. Almost all obstacles to trade in general and to exports in particular
listed in the needs assessment were present in his country. The needs of Haiti for technical assistance
were numerous: those of the export sector and of  the agro-industrial, manufacturing and agricultural
sectors. His authorities had reviewed these in order to define and design a comprehensive national
policy to promote exports, especially  traditional exports. The training of human resources wasanother important element to Haiti's trade. Trade as an engine of economic development was
fundamentally based on an improvement of trade information and the establishment of adequate
institutional management structures,  and a general knowledge among institutions of the new
information technology, in short, on human and institutional capacity building in the private and
public sector. Studies on the opportunities offered to Haiti in the international economy were currentlybeing carried out as well as on modalities for trade promotion. Haiti sought to modernize its laws and
trade regulations, thereby promoting investment. It was in the process of implementing the WTO
Agreements. His country took part in trade exhibitions, and was attempting to ensure that its
industries offered adequate insurance schemes, quality, and standards. It was envisaging to develop a
national policy in this area, focusing on the production side.  The needs identified involvedconsiderable financial expenditure beyond the ability of Haiti.  Collaboration of the six agencies was
imperative for integrated projects to provide the necessary funds needed.
62. The representative of WTO, speaking on behalf of the six agencies, referred to Part A of the
needs assessment (trade policy) and said that the six international institutions had committed
themselves to meeting the different points to improve the human and institutional capacity, both for
the public and the private sectors. As regards inte rnational trade issues, they committed themselves to
provide support to Haiti in its efforts to change its trade policy structure and to implement the WTO
Agreements through first of all, dissemination of information on the WTO Agreements by way of
national or regional seminars for French speaking least developed countries planned for 1998 andWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 21
1999. These activities would take place in the least developed countries themselves. A national
seminar specialized on issues of trade in textiles and services was planned for higher-level officials in
the different Ministries concerned as well as for the private sector, to increase their awareness of the
rules governing these sectors and of their impact on the development of exports of Haitian goods and
services.  Secondly,  training of officials was foreseen in the next few years through participation in
programmes aimed at strengthening the relationship between the public and the private sector and atdeveloping negotiating and trade-analysis skills and through short-term trade policy training courses
in the WTO. Finally, the responses drawn up by institutions were aimed at helping Haiti to fulfil its
obligations as a WTO Member:  an evaluation mission to better define Haiti's needs in this particular
field was envisaged in 1998.  As regards Part B (supply-side constraints), the World Bank was to
address needs relating to production factors in particular through the training of human resources in
the areas of education and health, as well as the reforms undertaken at the level of the state structures
particularly their privatization;  the World Bank would also support efforts to modernize legislationapplicable to foreign trade and investment and justice.  Detailed studies were envisaged, for example,
a detailed inventory of Haiti's export opportunities.  However, this assistance would need to be
worked out further in greater detail on the basis of consultations with the government to ensure a
proper translation of the identified needs into concrete actions.  Support in the area of trade
promotion, in particular training of human resources was envisaged through increased participation ofthe private sector in existing activities. With regard to market access, the six organizations envisaged
training and providing information, in particular for the utilization of the Generalized System of
Preferences, and to set up a trade information circuit on external markets. In the area of information
technology, the six organizations would provide assistance and equipment to the Ministry of
Commerce.  He concluded by pointing out that the further elaboration and finetuning of the actionsinvolved would be done by each individual organization in consultation with the government of Haiti.
63. The representative of the United States said that his governments' relations with Haiti were of
the highest priority.  Haiti had been in transition from a difficult period and it had been U.S. policy to
focus on Haiti in a significant and coherent way. The USAID programme was one of the larger
programmes and included the general economy of Ha iti, the environment, governance issues as well
as social questions in Haiti, making it a programme for sustainable development rather than a narrow
programme.  His authorities had been engaged in considerable consultations and coordination with
other donors, especially the European Communities. Integration of Haiti into the global trading
system was not only a question of trade reforms but also of investment and the strengthening of the
private sector in Haiti. Success stories elsewhere showed that it was important to change therelationship between the private and public sector so that the public sector was carrying less of the
direct burden of economic activity and growth; rather the public sector ought, through policy reforms,
to create an environment in which the private sector would not only be the main engine for economic
growth but also a partner and a participant in the design of government economic policy. Haiti itself
made considerable efforts  with the help of external donors to strengthen that relationship. He had
noted with interest that the needs assessment emphasised obstacles in the supply side of Haiti's
exports, such as quality standards, information on market access and marketing information. Theavailability of information on foreign markets, k nowledge of marketing circuits and information about
the preferential trading system were issues of sign ificant importance in efforts to integrate into the
world economy. Relatively small investments in the improvement of commercial codes, of quality
standards, in regulatory reform, in bringing the country's legislation into conformity with the WTO,
could make big differences in terms of changing the dynamics between the public and the privatesector and enabling a supply response,  a key element in the success of this entire effort.  He also
noted that Haiti was in the process of drawing up an inventory of potential exportables, especially
non-traditional exports and that a study was being made of foreign market opportunities for Haitian
products. USAID would be interested in the elabor ation of these two items to tailor some of its
assistance specifically in the trade area.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 22
64. The representative of France recalled the traditional links which existed between France and
Haiti which prompted France to promote any action enabling Haiti to develop in its region and
beyond. The inadequacy of the infrastructure in Haiti and the obsolescence of many factors of
production of Haiti's production capacity were important points noted in the needs assessment.  He
fully agreed that coordination was necessary between bilateral and multilateral donors, which was
also one of the main thrusts of the European Communities; France was making every effort toimprove coordination inside the European Communities and with other agencies.  France's assistance
to Haiti was focused so far on improvements in the infrastructure and in Haiti utilities.
65. The representative of the European Communities said that among the four sectors identified
by Haiti as presenting non-exploited export potential, the European Commission supported two,
agriculture and the agro-industry. In the negotiations between the European Commission and the
government of Haiti this year, trade was not retained as one of the sectors for concentrated support but
rather, in addition to those two, the road transport sector as well as improvement of governmentstructure. The Commission  had also set aside funds to promote tourism and trade.  He noted that his
authorities were reacting to a request transmitted by the Ministry of Planning ensuring full
coordination within the Haitian government. Secondly, in the context of regional cooperation,
including the Lomé Convention, a plan of action was at present being elaborated as regards Haiti.
Thirdly the Commission was at present studying various strategies to support the private sector.  Thelevel of customs tariffs for agricultural products imported into Haiti had also been discussed in the
course of the negotiations on structural adjustment last year which were held with the World Bank
and the Inter-American Development Bank and an agreement was reached with the government and
the other financial institutions on a tariff for agricultural imports.
66. The representative of Japan said that the most serious problem facing Haiti was the
insufficiency of human and financial resources. Assistance in the area of trade development should
take this aspect into account. The mobility of personnel between the public and private sectors in Haiti
was high. Therefore, any human resource development programme should also target the private
sector. Haiti had only a limited number of export products. The development of an export industry
was a lengthy process but as was the case of a pleasure boat manufacturer established by an Americanfirm, if the comparative advantages of this country were carefully studied potentially promising
sectors and products could be found.  Japan had been expanding its assistance to Haiti, currently
amounting to US$50 million and it intended to continue its assistance with particular emphasis on the
transport,  communication, infrastructure sectors, human resources development to improve the
administrative capability of the government, agricultural development and health and medicalassistance.  So far, Japan did not give much technical assistance in the area of trade and investment
but was considering extending assistance in these areas including industrial development in the future.
67. The representative of UNDP in Haiti said that UNDP had coordinated an inter-agency
mission in the trade and industrial sector, composed of experts from the ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP and
Haiti, which had enabled UNDP to put forward precise recommendations with respect to tourism,
textiles and other industries, including on a national policy for standardization and for elaborating
strategies for human resource development. The work was carried out in a partnership between thepublic and private sectors. The resulting first project was to set up a programme for training
entrepreneurs to enhance their capacities to take part in competitive markets nationally and
internationally and to open up to foreign trade.  A second project related to the improvement of
production in local enterprises and to make them more competitive through trade promotion and
quality control. A third orientation of UNDP's action included financing the implementation of an
automatic customs system in the framework of the modernization of the customs authorities. UNDP's
financial contribution in this project was considerable.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 23
68. The representative of Cuba recalled that Haiti was a neighbour and that his country had given
support and technical assistance in the area of pub lic health to Haiti. Technical assistance would
continue in the future and his authorities were  hopeful to increase Cuba's trade with Haiti.
69. The representative of the IMF noted that Haiti had become one of the priority areas for IMF's
technical assistance programme, which was in addition to and in support of the economic programme
which had been adopted by the government of Haiti last year. IMF technical assistance was carriedout in close cooperation and with the help of the UNDP and focused on strengthening the capacity for
macro-economic management in the Ministry of Finance, in the Central Bank and in the National
Statistical Agency. It included in particular assistance in tax administration, budgetary procedures,
strengthening of the banking sector through improved supervision by the Central Bank and in the
statistics sector including balance of payment statistics. This assistance was relevant for trade more
indirectly than directly in that it helped to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization and to permit the
country to pursue a more open trade policy.  The IMF had also worked closely with the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, UNCTAD and the bilateral programmes of the United
States and Japan.
70. Minister Germain, Minister of Trade and I ndustry of Haiti thanked the organizations and
countries which took part in this round table and said that he had taken note of their intention to step
up their assistance.  His government intended to immediately establish contact with them to set up acalender for specific assistance in the area of trade.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 24
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
MADAGASCAR
Chair:  Mr P. H. Ravier (France)
71. The Chairman recalled that the basic documents for the Round table were contained in
WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.6.
72. The Minister for Trade and Consumption of Madagascar, Mr. Paraina, welcomed the
integrated approach and said that the time when hi s country only had one donor or financial institution
was now well over.  The structural adjustment measures taken over the last few years in Madagascar
were beginning to bear fruit although there was still a long way to go as regards macro-economic
stabilization. Inflation had been brought under control, despite the floating of the Malagasy Franc, andbrought down to 8.8 per cent in 1996 as compared to 37.8 per cent in 1995 and 58.6 per cent in 1994.
The Central Bank base rate had been reduced to 11 per cent with a forecast of 5 per cent for 1997. The
growth rate of the GDP was 2.1 per cent in 1996 as compared to 1.8 per cent in 1995 but this was still
below the population growth rate of 3 per cent.  Estimated growth  for 1997 was  3.5 per cent. The
trade deficit of 3 per cent in 1996 as compared to 4 per cent in 1995 was the result of a small increasein exports of 6 per cent.  The public finance deficit amounted to 2.9 per cent of the GDP in 1996 as
compared to 3.2 per cent in 1995.  The debt ratio stood at 43 per cent in 1996 and was forecast to be
18 per cent in 1999, even after the re-scheduling of debt under the Naples conditions obtained by
Madagascar.  The internal savings rate was very low, 4 per cent of GDP in 1996 triggering a very low
rate of investment of 11 per cent in 1996 of which only 5 per cent was in the private sector.  A growth
rate which depended heavily on public investment and the contribution of export-generated income to
the development of GDP was still insignificant at 2 per cent according to surveys. The privateinvestment rate was estimated at 5.9 per cent.  The fiscal rate was one of the lowest in Africa, 8 per
cent, with estimates for 1997 of 9.3 per cent as a result of the measures taken at present.
73. Measures impacting on foreign trade had already been taken. The liberalization of trade
constituted an integral part of his country's choice to move towards a market economy. The Malagasy
Franc was floated in 1994 and recently the government had accepted Article 8 obligations of the IMF
Articles of Agreement and liberalized current account payments.  In December 1996, the obligation to
hand over export revenue was cancelled and thus exporters were now free to keep their income and
revenue in foreign currency and to dispose of it freely.  The obligation to repatriate foreign currency
went from 90 days to 120 days and all export taxes and duties had been eliminated.  The last tax onvanilla had been eliminated in 1997.  In August 1997 the National Assembly adopted a law
establishing a national committee on standardization, quality and certification.  A law dealing with the
reform of Chambers of Commerce was to be voted on in the National Assembly.  The overall macro-
economic reform was continuing but imports were still far exceeding exports.
74. At the Meeting, much had been said about market access.  In his authorities' view the problem
was one of supply.  The impossibility of meeting Madagascar's quota for beef and bananas in the
(Lomé) Protocol of the European Communities served as a good example.  The problem was not at
the level of production but in terms of quality standards.  His delegation had taken due note of the
readiness of donors to help its country in strengthen ing capacity in the area of human resources.  The
development of the private sector proved that private investment should replace  public investment as
the engine of sustained and lasting growth. Madagascar had great potential and diversified resources,
be it in the area of handicrafts, mining, tourism and fishing but came up against difficulties in
transforming its resources and potential into products which were acceptable on the international
market and which would sustain continued flows of trade.  First, supply side constraints should beWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 25
addressed.  Export production was limited. Producti on techniques or technology were unsophisticated
and ill-handled, owing, to some extent, to the lack of expertise of producers in doing business in
international markets.  The quality of the products offered on the international market were not
standardized and difficulties existed in applying international standards; there was a lack of financial
means to promote production and exports; there was a lack of certain services like transport,
communications and standardized information systems. Geographically, his country was far from themain centres of consumption, posing many transportation problems.
75. In summary, the measures which needed to be taken to meet these constraints should be in the
areas of diversification and increasing production, ensu ring the conformity of products to international
standards, creating greater awareness among producers of national and international standards, and
training.  Moreover, the ready availability of techniques and tools of production and standardization
and the establishment of the financing of means of production.  Second, issues of market access.
Market access should be improved for products which were at present exported. Given the erosion ofpreferences on traditional markets, diversification of outlets would be healthy for his country.  In
order to draw benefit from regional trade agreemen ts like COMESA and others, it was necessary to
establish the administrative institutional tools to ensure full implementation of these agreements.  His
government had  decided to join SADC and committed itself to follow through the procedures for its
accession.  On the international market, certain Malagasy products benefitted from protectionprovided through preferential rules.  This was the case of vanilla which had come up against strong
competition from synthetic products on the open market. Madagascar had a comparative advantage in
terms of quality and production costs for this particular product. It was nonetheless surprising that the
United States  imported 900-1,000 tonnes of vanilla whereas it had a smaller population than Europe
which imported a maximum of 50 ton. The European  market posed a problem of protection for
imports of vanilla.  Removal of the protective measures would enable Madagascar to double its export
revenue in this product alone.  Furthermore, Madagascar was making a true effort to export biological
products. This important sector deserved technical and financial support. Madagascar also had a
comparative advantage in this area because its farmers did not have access to chemical fertilizers due
to lack of finances, turning a handicap into a comparative advantage.  Finally, his authorities werelooking forward to the implementation of the programmes proposed by the six organizations and were
hoping that the necessary financing would come through.  Thus, it would welcome the establishment
of a national trade information centre, the strengthening of the trade representations abroad, technical
assistance and financing for export production, as well as the establishment of a special credit line for
the promotion of exports with advantageous conditi ons in terms of rates and duration of reinvestment.
The rates applied by the primary banks were still very high despite the drop in the base rate by the
Central Bank.
76. The representative of the private sector of Madagascar said that, given the high stakes in the
next 5 years both as regards the social programme to reduce poverty and to ensure a high standard of
living, the private sector was conscious of the need to relaunch the economic machine by establishing
a policy which was conducive to resolving bottlenecks in competition;  by establishing a lighter fiscal
system which was adapted to stimulating activity;  and by simplifying business legislation in thelegislation applied to enterprises and standards.  This relaunching should be based on investment and
on exports:  exports required production and production required investment;  investment required
financing, be this local or from abroad. Despite the difficult circumstances, the private sector in
Madagascar included enterprises capable of picking up this challenge and of reaching the goals which
the Minister had outlined.  Their capacity to do so would be enhanced if enterprises would beprivatised and if there were a greater degree of foreign investment in the country.  Analysis and a
diagnosis of the situation in the country should precede this as well as reforms in both the private
sectors and the administration. The private sector wanted to play a role in ensuring a lasting recovery
of the country in partnership with the administration, with the financial institutions and with the
providers of direct investment from abroad.  The private sector was now organized according to
sectoral branches  and the traditional branches of coffee, spices and rice which had lost a great part ofWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 26
their share of the market were given support to en able them to recover their share of the market in
these products. Moreover, three professional associations representing the private sector had this
month established a non-profit association which would be responsible for promoting the image of
Madagascar and its exports on the international market. This non-profit association would be the
executing body for the National Committee of Exports. Another professional association, in
partnership with private sector representatives in Europe was setting up a business centre in Paris witha secondary point in Antananarivo with as its objective the promotion of the image of Madagascar in
the broadest possible sense, in the area of trade, investment, tourism, culture and handicrafts as well
as to ensure the transmission of local requests and offers abroad. The centre would also supply
information to potential investors and travel offices.  Madagascar intended to become part of the
global economy.  The multilateral or bilateral financial institutions should have a far more dynamic
idea of the country and should not see things solely from a fiscal law or monetary point of view but
should follow private initiative in the form of partnerships. He expressed the hope for greatercoordination and a synergy of action between the financial institutions in Antananarivo. At present the
private sector was being drawn in three directions by the World Bank in the PATARE Project,
inaugurated by the UNDP, by another project in the private sector and in the third place the European
Communities in the 8th FED.
77. The representative of the World Bank, speaking on behalf of the six agencies, said that the
Malagasy economy was a pioneer in a spectacular macro-economic adjustment, but while the macro-
economic adjustment was accomplished, several structural reforms had yet to be put in place to enable
high and sustainable economic grow th. Promotion of foreign trade was one of the important structural
reforms to be undertaken. While Madagascar was big, its internal market was limited because of the
limited purchasing power of the population. Investments, local or foreign, were needed to developexports.  Direct foreign investments were the driving force behind the development in south east Asia.
In Madagascar, direct foreign investment was of an insignificant level which was not in keeping with
the potential of the country.  One important aspect of this investment was represented by foreign
trade.  Protection could be considered as discouraging investment.  Hence the importance of the needs
assessment drawn up by Madagascar, which pointed to the over-regulation in the country and showeda will to address this and to seek assistance from various organizations to solve this problem.  One of
the main bottlenecks to the supply side, as identified by Madagascar, were the high costs of factors of
production.  It was important that the government itself dealt with the link between investments and
the foreign trade regime because it was basic to a proper policy of technical assistance.  Madagascar
mentioned in the needs assessment that it needed technical assistance in the areas of market access,agricultural policies, anti-dumping rules, safeguards, standards, services, intellectual property,
negotiations and dispute settlement.  The responses showed that there were already programmes in
place from the agencies.  Repetitions and duplications occurred because several of these programmes
responded to many of the needs which had been listed, such as the UNCTAD programme, the ITC
programme, the World Bank/WTO/ITC regional seminar which was designed to respond to all those
needs.  Given the attention focused on Africa and the problems involved in regional integration, this
seemed the right forum to address these problems and to resolve them.  The need for support serviceswas also already addressed through UNCTAD's proposed technical assistance. The need for trade
analysis and standardization, certification and quality control of products were addressed through a
UNDP programme and a WTO programme. She drew attention to the joint World Bank/WTO
seminar which intended not only to give a presentation of the rules of the WTO Agreements but
would also include an analysis of the optimal conditions to be established for applying these rules,taking into account not only existing industries but also the interests of the country itself.  ITC had
established a project to support export markets;  one should not be complacent in looking at the
existing potential but account should also be taken of the fact that entrepreneurs could create new
opportunities. The example of salmon which had become a big export product for Chile was
interesting in this regard because there had not been any previous examples of this in Chile.  TheInternet was another issue to consider, how to connect the human resources involved.  UNDP, the
World Bank and WTO had been carrying out a programme in the coffee industry in this regard. ThereWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 27
was currently an integrated programme being carried out by the World Bank and WTO to inform on-
line various countries about all the trade-related aspects of these institutions.  Of course this could also
be used to obtain trade information on various market s.  With respect to the promotion of trade, the
ITC and UNCTAD had several programmes in place to train operators.  By way of conclusion, she
pointed out that what she had presented were the results of the collaboration between the various
agencies and that it was only the beginning of the programme.
78. The representative of the European Communitie s noted with regard to local integration that
within the context of Lomé, the European Commission intended to set up as of next year certain
programmes to take up this challenge to the extent they focused on the development of the private
sector and trade. In order to enhance this synergy of action between the private sector as a driver of
development and the trade development programmes, his authorities had decided to seek to
incorporate the trade support activities in the private sector support programme which meant that even
though this was still in a preparatory phase, it would seek synergy between the private sectorprogrammes and the export development programmes. Government/private sector collaboration was
important but duplication of efforts should be avoided, for example of efforts of UNDP and the World
Bank in this area. He referred to the anecdote given by the World Bank about Chile. Madagascar over
the past 4 years had more than tripled its industrial exports to Europe, a third of them in the textile
sector. Madagascar had been exporting ski suits to Europe which showed that market dynamics werenot very predictable; this showed the importance to include efforts of the private sector and to allow
them to develop their market input. No preconceived ideas should be imposed upon this sector and
donor programmes should be supporting initiatives springing from the private sector in Madagascar
itself.  The European Commission was seeking to support integrated sectoral programmes, such as for
fruit and vegetables.  In terms of regional activities, the Commission was supporting a programme forthe development of regional trade within the Indian Ocean region, assisting these countries to create a
free trade area. The problem of standards and quality control had been identified by Madagascar as
crucial elements in the development of trade and support programmes existed in this area, including
from the Commission.
79. The representative of Japan said that his authorities attached particular importance to capacity
building, to development of human resources and of the trade administration so that least developed
countries could benefit from market access opportunities which were already existing. His country
was the second donor of official development aid after France in 1995 accounting for 14 per cent of
the aid given to Madagascar.  Japan had maintained this level over the past six years and had
organized training courses in Japan in sectors such as transport and communications, the improvementof social infrastructure, fisheries, agriculture, corresponding to the needs identified by Madagascar in
its needs assessment.  Moreover, assistance was given in the areas of road transport equipment,
forestry development and shrimp cultivation. An important component of Japan's assistance was
earmarked for the road network.  Technical coopera tion in the priority sectors was to be further
increased in 1998.  He also mentioned the project fo r the promotion of investment in the Indian Ocean
area: the promotion of private investment in Asia towards the African countries to which Japan
intended to contribute US$900 million.
80. The representative of Gabon expressed the solidarity of his country to Madagascar.  All
speakers agreed that the efforts made by the LDCs were considerable in shouldering their own
responsibilities within the framework of the WTO Agreements.  Most, if not all of them, had
undertaken considerable structural adjustment reform programmes as well as political reforms but the
least developed countries both individually and collectively were not in a position to overcome themulti-dimensional crisis on their own, due to the limited means at hand. The international community
should take its responsibility by providing appropriate financial and technical assistance and by
helping the elaboration and establishment of a favourable external environment.  Madagascar was a
rich island, well endowed which had not been able to fulfil its potential so far.  It had human resources
with a young and hard working population, many natural resources, energy resources calling for aWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 28
judicious exploitation. The debt situation was an important handicap which had only been slightly
mitigated by some measures and deserved the attention of the financial institutions concerned. In an
era of globalization, the multilateral financial bodies should assist Madagascar to draw full benefit
from investments.
81. The representative of the United States noted that USAID had a decentralized form of
organization and most of the decisions on particular activities were taken in the field.  He would speak
about the US programme to increase technical as sistance to those countries in Africa which were
undertaking special efforts to liberalize their trade and investment regimes.  His country was in the
process of identifying particular activities and particular countries as candidates for additional
assistance.  The US had already in place a basic programme of assistance for Madagascar for this year
of about US$16.5 million, divided among three areas:  emphasis on improving the health of the
population;  assistance to environmental protection;   and improvement of the broad environment for
economic growth, in particular as regards the legal and regulatory environment. The US and theWorld Bank had sponsored other countries in Africa in identifying the obstacles to trade and
investment. Since Madagascar was probably one of the countries suffering from a heritage of over-
regulation of the investment environment  this would perhaps become an area of future interest for its
programme. His country intended to provide some assistance to COMESA in the form of workshops
and of some specific issue-related technical assistance.
82. The representative of Norway said that his country recognised the potential for expanded
trade and would like to see this being realised.  In terms of trade, the relationship between Norway
and Madagascar was at a modest level today with imports of about US$300,000 and exports of
US$210,000. In terms of development assistance his country was contributing some US$7 million in
1997 bilaterally.  However, the focus of Norway's assistance to Madagascar had been and wouldcontinue to be through private and multilateral organizations, including possible future Norwegian
support in the field of trade-related technical assistance.
83. The representative of Mauritius said that his country had always been closely linked to
Madagascar as a neighbouring country, both being members of the ACP group of countries, l'Agence
de la Francophonie, COMESA and the Indian Oc ean Initiative. In addition, it had a number of
bilateral agreements relating to customs cooperation, investment and cultural exchanges. His
government and the private sector had been following with great interest the various liberalization
measures introduced by the Malagasy government w ith a view to facilitating investment and trade.
Many Mauritian firms - about 39 - had invested in the Malagasy free zone providing employment to a
considerable number of people. In addition, there was an interest in the sectors of agro-industry,tourism and mixed farming including agro-culture. His government was planning to send a high-level
representation of both the public and private sector to Madagascar with a view to prospecting further
the needs of Madagascar and to entering into bilateral consultations on investment.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 29
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
Mali
Chair:  Minister Fatou Haïdara (Mali)
84. The Chair, Minister of Industry, Commerce a nd Handicraft of Mali said that her country was
a landlocked country with an economy based on agriculture, a sector which employed more than
80 per cent of its population.  The economy suffered from its dependence on the climate, its
landlocked situation, lack of infrastructure, from the weight of debt servicing and lack of access to
international markets. The process of globalization, if well conducted, could stimulate harmonious
growth of the world economy, reduce the gap between rich and poor countries and improve the well-
being of mankind, and the least-developed countries had therefore to take action to reform theirpolicies and economies with the help of their development partners. Her country had moved from a
centrally-planned to a liberal economy and a number of economic reforms had been undertaken. The
private sector was considered the engine of growth.  Efforts had been made to liberalise trade and
prices for all products and to reduce the budget deficit.  A new definition had been given to the role of
the state which had became more oriented towards directing, regulating and promoting privateinitiative.  The economic reforms had resulted in a growth-rate of 7 per cent in 1995 and 4.3 per cent
in 1996, an increase in the volume of private investment and in the production of cotton and gold.
Political stability and continued economic growth had helped to build up confidence between the state
and the private sector.  Mali wished to remain a credible partner at the regional and the world level.
Her Government sought to enhance its capacity to create a better business environment, to strengthen
the financial sector, to mobilize domestic savings, to develop financial intermediation, to restructure
the productive sector in order to make it more competitive taking into account Mali's membership ofregional economic organizations like ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Union of West
Africa, to develop human and institutional capacities and to improve the judicial system.  In order to
sustain those efforts, her government had concluded an agreement with the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank for a framework progra mme for the period 1997/99 with the following
objectives: to reach a GNP rate of growth of 5 per cent per year, to bring inflation down to 2.5 percent after 1998 and to reduce the external deficit to less than 9 per cent of gross domestic product.  In
order to attain those objectives and to enable Mali to become competitive in the international market,
the Government requested the support from the international community for its main production
sectors.  Cotton was one of the most important products in Mali, but only 2 per cent of the cotton
produced was processed locally.  Her Government also  sought assistance in the livestock sector.  It
needed assistance to build its institutional capacity to develop Mali's basic infrastructure. The
Government had decided to reduce the bureaucratic rules to set up new enterprises.  That had proven
successful as, for the past two years with a single  window system, eleven businesses per week in the
industrial services sectors had been created.  However, the physical establishment of new enterprises
remained a problem for which technical assistance was needed. Trade promotion was another sectorrequiring more assistance as well as the infrastructure sector, where particular efforts had been made
in the field of transportation but much remained to be done.  In the field of telecommunications,
efforts were envisaged to improve the business environment in Mali.
85. The representative of the IMF, speaking on behalf of the six agencies presented the Integrated
Response of the six participating agencies, contained in WT/LDC/HL12/Add.7.  Mali had presented a
particularly clear and comprehensive request and based on this, it had received a very encouraging
reaction indicating the readiness of the participating agencies to provide technical assistance in nearly
all of the requested areas. The presentation by Minister Fatou Haïdara had been particularly
interesting for three reasons. First, the Government of Mali had provided a concise summary of Mali'smacro-economic framework in its needs assessment.  Second, the needs assessment listed Mali'sWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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technical assistance needs by order of priority.  Only one other country which had managed to do that.
The needs assessment gave a clear idea of the potential sources for technical assistance, listing a
relatively large number of agencies.  As to the macro-economic framework, the role of the private
sector had been stressed in the new model for economic growth.  The turning point in real growth of
Mali's economy with encouraging results in the last  year had also been mentioned.  The deceleration
of inflation and the reduction in both the budget deficit and the external current account had takenplace in an environment of total liberalization of inte rnal and external trade. In his view, this provided
a good environment for the more specific trade measures that the agencies were envisaging and
assured a measure of success on technical assistance inputs. The listing of technical assistance needs
by priority was not an easy task as it required internal leadership.  However, it provided orientation to
the donor community and would be useful for the country's international management and technical
assistance coordination purposes. Third, the needs assessment listed a large number of potential
providers of technical assistance and the inventory of needs certainly went well beyond the capacityof the six participating agencies.  The Government of Mali would have to coordinate the technical
assistance called for. While, as described in the Integrated Framework coordination would primarily
be the country's own responsibility, the participating agencies would be called upon, on a case by case
basis, to coordinate with the relatively larger number of other partners.
86. The technical assistance in the response of the six agencies could broadly be grouped into two
categories, as identified in the questionnaire: measures aimed, first, at helping Mali to integrate its
economy into the international trading system and second, at helping Mali to achieve conformity of its
legislation with the WTO Agreements. Regarding the latter group, Mali had for example identified as
its needs the establishment of a WTO activity coordination unit, training of trainers,  the organizationof seminars and workshops, assistance in adapting Mali's legislation to the WTO Agreements.
Naturally, the WTO would be the provider of technical assistance in these areas and it had responded
positively to all those requests.  The WTO would provide equipment and documentation to assist the
coordination unit and had also offered logistical support and an Internet link-up for the focal point.
WTO had also proposed its assistance to adapt Mali's legislation to make it WTO consistent andfinally, the WTO was proposing to conduct workshops, seminars and other training, basically in the
context of its regional programmes.  In addition, the World Bank had offered assistance specifically in
the more technical areas of the adaptation to WTO standards such as valuation and quality standards,
this as a component of the World Bank's private sector study.  Three agencies had made proposals in
response to Mali's request to carry out a study evaluating the impact of WTO rules on Mali's internaleconomic situation and strategies: the World Bank in the context of its economic management project,
the UNDP as a financing partner, and UNCTAD in the context of its evaluation project. The needs
assessment also referred to Mali's need for a ssistance to enhance its trade analysis and trade
negotiating capacity, including in the areas of market access, anti-dumping and subsidies regulations,
intellectual property rights, foreign market analysis. WTO proposed training, technical assistance onissues of dispute settlement and to provide teaching material as well the establishment of an Internet
link.  The UNCTAD proposed, as a follow-up to its training for trade project, the training of
government officials as well as of private sector personnel.  Finally, the UNDP proposed financing
and assistance in establishing the private investment promotion centre.
87. He then turned to the other main group of requests which related to the integration of Mali's
economy into the international trading system.  Mali requested assistance to help overcome supply
constraints, to improve its sector-specific exports, to establish a Trade Point, to establish a permanent
site for fairs and in the area of tariff policy. UNDP proposed to assist with the financing of a technical
information centre and of a Trade Point in cooperation with ITC and UNCTAD.  UNDP would also,in cooperation with others, assist the foreign trade promotion structure.  The World Bank, in the
context of some of its larger ongoing projects, w ould assist with promotion of exports in particular
sectors, such as the conservation of fruit and vegetables in the context of the World Bank's agro-food
industry support project and the mining export se ctor in the context of the World Bank's miningWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 31
capacity support project.  ITC was planning a mission in November 1997 to identify supply and
export potential. It would also provide support to entrepreneurs to participate in trade fairs.  Finally,
UNCTAD was providing training and proposed the establishment of a Trade Point. There were a few
areas which had not been covered by the responses of the six participating agencies and one of them
included an area to which Mali had attached priority, assistance to strengthen its cotton processing
capacity.  The Chair had mentioned the relatively small share of internally processed cotton in Mali.Support for the establishment of an export credit system and for the establishment of industrial zones
in various regions of Mali were also mentioned.  However, the Government of Mali had already stated
in its needs assessment that other donors could as sist in those areas, such as UNIDO and the EC. As
those agencies were not included in the Integrated Response of the six agencies, the Government of
Mali might wish to follow up individually with them.
88. He referred to the Government of Mali's prioritization of requests. Mali's first priority was
support for the promotion of under-exploited sectors such as vegetables, meats, textiles.  He notedwith interest that those sectors coincided with the ones identified in the ITC study on principal
bottlenecks, so-called achievers in adversity, which meant products that showed a good export
performance for Mali although world imports in total had not shown strong growth.  The second
priority was support for the establishment of a Trade Point, and the third was the establishment of a
coordination unit on WTO Agreements. These needs had received ample coverage in the IntegratedResponse.  The IMF's direct assistance in the area of trade promotion was limited, but it was
mentioned was in relation to assistance with the establishment of the envisaged common external
tariff of the West African Economic and Monetary Union.  In the recent past, the IMF had also
provided assistance on balance of payments statistics through the BCEAO and advice on taxes and
customs with a total of some eight missions over the last few years.  The IMF could do more in thoseareas and stood ready to consider any further requests.  It remained engaged in the broader areas of
the promotion of payments and the liberalization of trade.  The programme that the Government of
Mali had concluded with the IMF and the World Bank had been mentioned, which provided for nearly
US$100 million over a three-year period and was currently in its second year.  That programme
contained a number of structural objectives which were relevant for the area of trade such as theliberalization of the economy, the abolition of certain export taxes and the reduction in the import
tariff.  In concluding, he said that IMF stood ready to cooperate with the Government of Mali and
with the other agencies in the area of trade-related technical assistance and he wished Mali well in its
ambitious endeavours in the trade area.
89. The representative of the European Commission focused his statement around three themes:
the problem of rural development in relation to the fact that about 80 per cent of the population still
worked in the rural sectors, the problem of landlockedness and the problem of lack of information
concerning marketing opportunities, as well as export diversification. The Chair had emphasized that
sectors like the livestock sector were important.  The 8th European Development Fund framework
would be focusing on the rice and beef sector, as we ll as the mining sector as specifically requested by
the Government of Mali.  The EC would initiate a study in cooperation with the Government which
would take stock of the geological potential of the mining sector. The problem of landlockednesscalled for sub-regional integration as well as integration into the global economy. In consultation with
the Government of Mali, the European Communities would decide how to put emphasis on the
transport sector and how it could be developed, not only as part of the national plan for Mali but also
as part of a regional plan.  The European Communities was cooperating with the Government of Mali
at both the national and regional level to strengthen the transport sector and was conscious of theimportant role and potential of the private sector in efforts to strengthen the existing network of
transport.  As far as the landlocked issue was concerned, the Chair had emphasized border problems
such as slow and cumbersome administrative processes and high costs. The European Communities
had launched a programme supporting regional integration in western Africa within the framework of
Western African Economic and Monetary Union and support to the customs administration andfacilitation of transit was planned within that programme. The European Communities could fine-tuneWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 32
its action in line with the priorities emerging from the discussions during this meeting.  As far as the
image of Mali in the sub-region and in the world as a whole was concerned, he mentioned as an
important, if only symbolical point that the European Communities had decided to support the
"Comité de l'Entente" in the framework of sub-regional tourism development.  Access to markets,
lack of information on market opportunities and the issue of export diversification were other
problems of importance and the European Communities had several programmes under way at boththe regional and the national level.  There were a number of sectors included in regional programmes
of the European Communities, such as the ACP agreements on fruits and vegetables and certain
promotion activities to support regional trade in oil seed products.  A pilot project to establish Trade
Points in western Africa was financed by the European Communities and drawn up together with
UNCTAD.  Mali would be part of that pilot project which was expected to begin shortly.  The
Government of Mali had raised other questions as well to which he did not have a direct reply.  The
need for export credit emerged regularly in the entire region and the European Communities wereready to finance a regional study to attempt to define the specific needs in the sub-region for export
credit and to analyze how the problem could be addressed. As far as the need for assistance to set up
industrial zones was concerned, he said that the indicative programme for the coming four years had
already more or less been set.  However, it was possible to discuss ways to intervene as part of the
European Communities' support policy for decentralization.  As to the establishment of a fixed site fortrade fairs in Mali, he admitted that the European Communities were rather reluctant to undertake any
such initiative as they were not convinced that this was a priority.
90. The representative of France underscored the importance of the economic reform effort
undertaken in Mali.  He noted with interest the dynamism and the diversity of the regional approach.
Reform was being undertaken in the context of a long list of regional activities or institutions such asthe creation of a Trade Point, a regional statistics office, an office for the harmonization of business
law, the insurance market, the inter-African conference on social benefits, the treaty and
harmonization of business law, and of course, the Economic and Monetary Union of Western Africa.
All those initiatives were important and his country, on its own and through action in the European
Communities, was providing assistance to each and every one of them and would continue to do so.In the same way, France in its bilateral actions, would continue its full support to the Malian
authorities.  He recalled that France, in 1991, had set up an agency for the promotion of exports of the
least-developed countries which would inform and tr ain exporters from LDCs.  Visits of authorities
and officials from Mali to cities in France would continue and be expanded. Promotion of agricultural
products from LDCs was envisaged.  In concluding, he welcomed the fact that in the context of theOECD France had been selected as a pilot country for a new exercise of re-examining assistance of
donor countries.  The government of Mali was going to be playing an important role in that exercise
as it would be analysing and examining international action for aid to recipient countries.
91. The representative of Japan said that his coun try's priority in relation to aid to LDCs was
capacity building.  His country intended to engage  in a dialogue with the Government of Mali
concerning the development of human resources and the improvement of trade-related structures and
bodies in order to identify projects which could make a contribution to meeting the needs of Mali.Trade between Japan and Mali remained limited and in 1996, Japan export's to Mali amounted to
¥1.6 billion while its imports  amounted to ¥2.8 million, including cotton. He welcomed the emphasis
which the Government of Mali had put on the role of the private sector and the liberalization policy it
had undertaken.  His country was the second country in terms of public development aid flows to
Mali, after France.  Aid had primarily been given in the agricultural and the energy sectors during thelast three years.  However, the communication sector had been added to the 1998 programme. Japan
also contributed financial support worth US$50 million in 1995 and US$40 million in 1996 to Mali's
efforts to transform its economy into a market economy and to take the necessary restructuring
measures. Japans approach to development cooperation was a demand-driven one and he welcomed
the same approach in the Integrated Framework.  Hi s authorities intended to continue their dialogue in
the context of the Integrated Framework and as part of the preparatory process for the secondWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 33
Conference on the Development of Africa which Japan was organizing in October 1998 in Tokyo.
The mechanisms for implementation, evaluation and revision of the Integrated Framework that had
been put in place were important.
92. The representative of the ITC said ITC would contribute  to Mali's development in three
areas.  The first was related to national activities and the two others were related to sub-regional
activities.  The first area of support was ITC's assistance to Mali for the identification of institutionalarrangements appropriate for export capacity promotion measures in the context of current trade
liberalization.  In order to do so, ITC would unde rtake a mission in the beginning of November to
examine, together with the national authorities, th e potential for support to various areas of external
trade promotion and would be studying relations betw een the various interfaces of external trade.  As
a result of this exercise, a technical cooperation programme would be drawn up and would be
submitted to the authorities of Mali and to its development partners.  Two regional activities
benefitting Mali included the setting up of a computerized system for business opportunities, anoperation financed by the European Communities among the member countries of ECOWAS.  In the
next two months, a seminar to apply this computer ized system would be held at the headquarters of
ECOWAS in Lomé, and Mali would be participatin g. The first stage had been completed. The third
area for intervention was ITC's participation, together with UNCTAD, in the establishment of a Trade
Point.  Mali was one of the pilot countries in that respect and would be participating in the creation ofa Trade Point as part of ITC's trade information efforts.
93. The representative of Belgium said that there was a series of aspects which were of interest to
his delegation.  These included the problems of infrastructure and support to the private sector and
Belgian Cooperation was to start a new programme in those areas. Regional integration was a familiar
issue to Belgium as was the need for more traini ng.  The Mali needs assessment contained the words
skilled staff, professionalism and technical expertise, forms of assistance which were not related to
material assistance and in that context he mentioned that the opportunities for training in Belgium or
in Mali could be improved.
94. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank referred to the problems mentioned by
the Minister about the landlocked situation of Mali and about its rural development and said that he
was happy to inform the Government of Mali that the Islamic Development Bank was working on
three road projects which would allow better access to the neighbouring ports. The funding of the road
to the port of Noakshott had been announced that week.  The two other road-projects under
consideration were roads to the ports of Dakar and Conakry.  The Islamic Development Bank had
been working in the areas of rural development a nd agricultural production for some time.  It would,
during this  and the following year concentrate on the regions in the north for reasons that had been
identified by the government itself. It had organised several seminars on textiles within the framework
of the WTO, of importance to the cotton production sector.  Malian producers would be given the
opportunity to be represented in international fair s to make their products known and the Islamic
Development Bank would also offer some export credit.  Certain cotton producers in Mali had already
benefitted from this kind of support.
95. The representative of Côte d'Ivoire, speaking also in the context of the Round Table for
Guinea,  said that she welcomed efforts undertak en by the international community for Mali and
Guinea.  She wished to express her country's solidarity with its sister country, Guinea, with which it
had built up a long trade tradition, both bilaterally and within regional arrangements, such as
ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa.  These regional arrangements
enabled their member countries to promote trade and give new dynamism to trade between variouscountries.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 34
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
NEPAL
Chair:  Minister ?. Lohani (Nepal)
96. Minister Lohani, Minister of Commerce of Nepal recalled the steps taken so far by his
government towards liberalisation of the economy.  Various studies indicated that since the 1980s the
world economy had been characterised by rising inequality, the gap between the rich and the poornations  widening like never before.   While in 1965, the North had 20 times the average global per
capita income, in 1995 this figure had increased to 39.  Nepal's remoteness from the sea aggravated by
rugged mountains added much to its problem of high transport costs making access to the world
market difficult and uncompetitive.  This problem needed to be addressed through the development of
an adequate transport network to facilitate movement of domestic products;  alternative modes and
means of transport by road, rail and waterways had also to be developed externally to provide less
costly and easy access to world markets.  A multi-model transit and trade facilitation project for thedevelopment of three inland container depots was on-going which would greatly improve and speed
up Nepal's transit traffic. He welcomed the government of India's decision to provide Nepal with
transit transport facilities along with alternative transit routes to and through Bangladesh and for
assistance to build a proposed railway extension.  He expressed his deep appreciation to the
government of Bangladesh for its cooperation to create the necessary facilities to fully operationalisetransit routes for Nepal's transit traffic.  With its low industrial base, part of Nepal's revenue was
based on customs generated income and upon binding its tariffs at a lower level as part of Nepal's on-
going accession process, revenue loss seemed a likely prospect, necessitating a revenue compensatory
mechanism.
97. The low-level of technological expertise was a major problem for LDCs in their efforts to
expand their export capabilities.  Training in technological enhancement methods for production
processes was needed.  Nepal's export base was limited, depending too much on the agricultural
sector, necessitating assistance to widen its export base.  In line with economic liberalisation policies,
Nepal had opened its investment regime and was offering incentive packages to attract foreign direct
investment, but the FDI flow had not been encouraging as the size of Nepal's domestic market wassmall and hence the flow of FDI had to be directed towards the development and modernisation of
export-orientated products.  This in turn required a guaranteed export market.  A special fund for
identifying export-orientated industries could be set up which would finance the necessary studies in
this sector and would be the basis for  projects with private and/or non-private sector participation.
98. The Uruguay Round tariff negotiations had resulted in an erosion of preferential margins
which were available to the LDCs under the Generalised System of Preferences.  As many LDCs were
still far from obtaining market competitiveness as their self-sustainable export base,  the GSP scheme
needed to be continued and supported by a zero tariff on all imports from the LDCs coupled with a
simplification of the rules of origin and removal of non-tariff barriers.  In addition, trade promotionprogrammes were needed. Nepal's export promotion institution was weak and was in need of human
and institutional capacity building. Moreover Nepal needed technical assistance in reviewing and
conforming its trade policy regime to make it compatible with WTO rules and regulations.  In Nepal's
accession negotiations to the WTO, it would have to open its service sector.  LDCs were not
competitive and hence had to be supported by creating vocational schools and training institutionscoupled with a relatively free movement of labour to the developed countries.  The concerns of the
LDCs regarding development issues and problems needed to be continuously heard in the WTO, and
as it could not be expected to conduct this kind of meeting regularly he called for a permanent
department within the WTO framework for least developed countries.  LDCs, such as Nepal, could
not be left to the dynamics of market forces since these favoured those with resources, technology andWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 35
institutional capabilities to compete. The LDCs had to be made competitive in the world system and,
in order to be successful in this process,  needed encouragement and support to build on their strength
in a dynamic framework.   The LDCs for their part had to do their homework and show their
commitment to maintain macro-economic stability and to promote a policy framework which was
predictable and conducive to private investment.  Nepal was moving in this direction.  The support of
international institutions like WTO should go a long way in achieving this goal.
99. Mr. Dev Pant, Director General in the Ministry of Commerce of Nepal in introducing Nepal's
needs assessment, recalled that it listed as Nepa l's main technical assistance needs the following
areas: human resources development; national capacity build-up; improved technology including
production, quality and diversification; management information systems; alternative transit routesand development of means of transportation; product development; market promotion; rules of origin
criteria; improved technology to increase the value of products and develop the quality of exportable
textile and other products; market research and studies; improved communication facilities;
infrastructure development;  and technical assistance in substantive and procedural areas of the WTO
such as TRIPs, TRIMs, Dispute Settlement, Textiles and Services.  Prioritisation of Nepal's needswould lead to the following list of  priorities:  (1) product development;  (2) market promotion;  (3)
foreign direct investment;  (4) national capacity bu ild-up;  (5) review of overall direct policy;  (6)
establishment of trade schools;  (7) enhancing  competitive capability;  (8) identification of alternative
transit routes and development of means of transportation.  Agriculture counted for more than 40 per
cent of GDP and employed 80 per cent of the population.  In the manufacturing sector, carpets and
ready-made garments accounted for over 70 per cent of Nepal's exports.  The remaining exportable
products consisted mainly of pulses and other agricultural products, jute and other simplemanufactured products.  In the services sector, tourism contributed over 20 per cent of Nepal's foreign
earnings.  With a view to augmenting the size of Nepal's exports, its export base needed to be
developed, especially focusing on value-added products.  Product development encompassed quality
improvement of indigenous products, identification of new products, product diversification, quality
control and so on.  Product diversification was needed along with quality improvement of exportableitems. Technological enhancement measures for upgrading production processes of potential export
products in terms of cost and quality were needed. Perhaps the international community could
consider devising an integrated programme for export product development covering all of these
aspects from production to marketing.  In the fiscal year 1995/96 the European Communities and the
United States  were Nepal's main export partners accounting for respectively 44 per cent and 30 percent of its total exports.  Likewise, India accounted for most of Nepal's imports with 85 per cent share
in total imports. The European Communities was second.
100. The representative of UNDP, speaking on behalf of the six agencies recalled that the first
priority identified by the government was to increase production and develop the quality of exportable
agricultural products, carpets, textiles and expo rt-orientated industries. Improved technology was
being requested.  In early 1998,  ITC was to carry out a programme design mission, an advisory
mission,  focusing on product adaptation, quality control and strengthening of trade promotion bodies.
UNDP had an on-going project which would improve the production of silk and the use of silk for
manufacture, a diversification agriculture project with different products such as agro-seed, medicinal
plants, herbs, cut flowers.  It was also conducting a project to further improve the quality of tourismservices in Nepal,  fostering a partnership between private operators and the government in order to
increase competitiveness and the quality of the service rendered by the tourist industry.  The
World Bank was conducting  an agricultural development project, increasing production through
irrigation, road maintenance and rehabilitation cutting down the cost of transactions, agricultural
research and extension.  The World Bank was also involved in the analysis and preparation of a
framework for foreign investment in electricity pro duction.  The second priority in terms of technical
assistance was the upgrading of human resources, and strengthening of institutions.   WTO was toconduct a national seminar on WTO rules and trade policy, a three week trade policy course for LDCs
of english speaking countries, as well as workshops for the Asia and the Pacific region to trainWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 36
officials of the government and experts from the private sector.  UNCTAD would provide assistance
for capacity building,  including individual and group training on issues related to compliance with
the WTO Agreements.  UNDP had started a project  to assist Nepal's accession to the WTO, including
the elaboration of approaches to conform Nepal's legislation to WTO rules and training on negotiation
techniques.  ITC would provide training in terms of product adaptation.  The IMF was to conduct a
six month technical assistance programme on balance of payments, part of this assistance beingtraining.  A third priority for the government was improved communications facilities and a
management system of information.  The World Bank had an on-going telecommunication project
providing telephone services throughout the country to remote communities and this project would
also support the regulatory agencies.  UNDP's regional project mechanism for the exchange of
technology and information was to establish viable region-wide interactive networks to facilitate
information dissemination on environmental techniques especially for small and medium sized
enterprises.  ITC was starting a regional project of Trade Points,  instrumental for building upcapacities to exchange information about business and market opportunities, potential clients and
suppliers and trade regulation, relying on a worldwide network for the exchange of information.
UNCTAD had a database on trade control measures of some 50 countries and dissemination of this
information was done through CD-Roms.  The fourth priority need related to substantive and
procedural aspects of Nepal's accession to the WTO.   WTO was to organise a seminar on tradepolicies and it would provide  assistance on specific Agreements, such as TRIMs, Textiles, Dispute
Settlement, and Rules of Origin.   The need for market research and  studies for exportable products
was covered mostly by ITC and its planned mission for product development.  Finally, alternative
transportation modes:  the World Bank through an on-going programme, the multi-model transit and
trade facilitation project initiated in May of this year, was providing technical assistance to severalMinistries to put in place a container tracking system and to build an inland freight terminal facility
for rail and road transport.  UNCTAD was to assist  in reviewing more specifically the problem of
construction in coordination with the World Bank.  The WTO had proposed providing training in the
use of computers, CD-Rom, and the Internet.  In concluding he noted that technical assistance was the
catalyst for building capacities in the country but needed a conducive environment, a learningenvironment which was based on coordination, coherence of policies, and partnership between the
different groups of society, government, civil soci ety and the private sector. A conducive environment
included good governance,  the rule of law, transparency and accountability.
101. The representative of Germany recalled that carpets were a major export product and noted
that his country was Nepal's biggest market for these carpets. The question of quality standards and
product diversification was important, in light of the fast changing trends in consumer preference.
Germany was preparing an integrated private sector promotion project for Nepal of about
DM2 million with the objective of increasing the competitiveness and export ability of selected small
and medium-sized enterprises in cooperation with the newly established Industry Enterprise
Development Institute.  For the last five years, Germany had been financing a project directed at small
and medium enterprises with a special focus on small business consultancy and complementary credit
programmes. His government intended to continue  this programme.  He noted his government's
willingness to conduct further discussions with Nepal and the multilateral institutions on the identified
needs.
102. The representative of Japan said that, whilst  market access was important,  the capacity to
take advantage of that opportunity was vital.  His country attached great importance to the economic
development of Nepal and capacity building was a priority.  Nepal was one of Japan's prioritycountries in its overall programme both in terms of capital assistance and of technical assistance. In
1995, Japan's assistance to Nepal amounted to about 48 per cent of the total bilateral aid which Nepal
received. His government attached importance to the following areas.  First, improvement of
economic infrastructure. The particular natural constraints which Nepal faced, being landlocked,
made improvement of the transportation system and traffic system including the airport andtelecommunications the most important sector of assistance.  Second, promotion of export sectors,WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 37
such as agricultural and tourism, but in addition also the hydro-electric power sector could play an
important role. Japan had contributed to the expansion and improvement of hydro-electric power,
envisaging to concentrate on this in the future. Technical assistance for trade investment promotion
was a new area which Japan wanted to explore.  More over, Japan provided zero tariff rates to most of
the products from the LDCs and it was envisaging to simplify the application of rules of origin. Japan
took a decision in 1996 not to require certification of origin for about 200 products which representedone-third of the products subject to Japanese GSP regime.  Moreover, it had not applied the double-
processing requirement rule to major textile products of LDCs since 1993, but instead, the single-
processing requirement rule. In concluding he said that while often developing countries, including
LDCs, had difficulty in exporting their textile products to a developed market,  Japan had never put
QRs on the imports of textiles from LDCs.
103. The representative of India noted that, due to geographical reasons and traditional linkages,
India and Nepal shared a very unique trade and economic relationship. The two countries had strong
bilateral cooperation ties both in the economic and trade fields, as well as regional ties under the
SAARC (South Asian Arrangement for Regional Coope ration). India would continue to support all
the endeavours of Nepal for improving its trade and continue to cooperate closely with the Nepalese
government, enabling them to achieve its objectives and aspirations.
104. The representative of Switzerland said  that trade issues were closely linked to other
development issues and challenges such as the question of debt, balance of payment, lack of
adaptability, physical infrastructure, environment and human resources.  This was particularly the
case in LDCs and  the trade dimension needed therefore to be incorporated into an overall framework
of development cooperation specific to each country. Similarly, building capacity for trade was a
development problem which had to be confronted jointly by the trade and aid communities on the onehand and by the Ministry of Trade with all the relevant Ministries on the other hand.  For these
reasons, the implementation of an integrated approach  in the field of trade-related technical assistance
was potentially an important and innovative mechanism if appropriately implemented.  Reading the
needs assessment as well as the answers provided by the international organizations reinforced his
government's conviction that all trade-related assistan ce projects should be integrated into an overall
framework.  At the same time, comparison of this document with Switzerland's bilateral programme
in Nepal had strengthened the notion that trade and other development issues were closely linked and
that trade promotion was almost as transversal a topic as gender or environment.  As an example, in
its sectoral programme on technical education and vocational training Switzerland supported  a
programme for the promotion of small industries, focusing on the needs of professional associationsin the area of capacity building and training.  The same need was, in a slightly modified manner,
expressed in Nepal's needs assessment. Against this backdrop, it was his hope that the implementation
of an integrated approach would enable a greater dialogue to reinforce the so-called demand driven
aspects of technical assistance and would facilitate a coherent insertion of trade aspects in the overall
development strategy of Nepal.  The sequence and timing of the assistance provided to support the
reform process towards opening the national economy was highly important and his authorities
therefore encouraged the establishment of an inter-ministerial coordination body and the creation ofnational focal points for the provision of trade-related technical assistance.  Switzerland was
convinced that Round-Tables or equivalent fora at country level were positive steps to improve the
much needed dialogue in the preparation and review of all trade-related technical assistance and
should include all ongoing trade-related projects. Nevertheless, the present round table marked only a
very brief starting point and should be followed by the application of the proposed integratedapproach.
105. The following speakers took the floor in the informal continuation of the round table meeting:
representatives from Denmark,  US, Singapore,  Au stria,  UK,  EC,  Pakistan,  Netherlands, and
Korea,  as well as from Nepal's private sector and from the World Bank.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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NOTE ON THE  ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
TANZANIA
Chair:  European Communities
106. The Chair recalled that the relevant docum entation was contained in WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.9.
107. The Tanzanian Minister for Industries and Trade, the Hon. Dr. William F. Shija, also
speaking on behalf of Mr. Musa,  Minister for Trade and Marketing for the government of Zanzibar
introduced Tanzania's assessment of its needs for trade-related technical assistance.   He noted that at
the Singapore Ministerial, his delegation had been inspired by the concern and recognition of the
special circumstances facing the LDCs like Tanz ania and the need for th e international trading
community to assist.  The High Level Meeting epit omised the will of the international community to
address the special needs faced by countries like his and he thanked the WTO and the other
participating agencies for the excellent prepara tions which enabled this meeting to take place.
108. Tanzania displayed a variety of physical features covering an area of approximately 1 million
square kilometres with a population approaching 30 million.  Abundant unexploited resources offered
many opportunities for development and although agriculture remained the economic lifeline of the
country, mining, tourism and manufacturing were ot her important growth areas.  Since the mid-1980s,
Tanzania had followed economic recovery programmes supported by the international financial
institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank and other institutions as well as donors.  Theprogramme included many measures for liberali zing trade and promoting private investment.
Changes in economic policies had had positive impact with a GDP growth of 4.2 per cent for 1996
when compared with 3.9 per cent in 1995.  In general terms, Tanzania's economic policy had started
to create an enabling environment for greater private sector involvement.  Whilst global trade
statistics showed that the fastest growing export sectors were manufacturing and services,commodities still represented about 62 per cent of Tanzania's exports.  Tanzania's ratio of exports to
imports had not changed or improved significantly in the past 15 years and throughout this period
exports had only managed to finance about 30 per cent of imports.  At the same time, Tanzania had a
heavy debt burden which represented about 1,300 per cent of merchandise exports.
109. Tanzania's efforts in trade development were faced by various challenges and obstacles such
as poor physical infrastructure and inadequate energy witnessed in production and export
management, insufficient direct business contacts and inadequate knowledge of the markets rules and
requirements that kept on changing.  Tanzania was of the view that the WTO Agreements would
make the global trading system more transparent and would provide a substantial improvement in the
market access opportunities for least developed countries.  The new rules for international trade couldbe useful if the special and differential rules provided in the various decisions and measures in favour
of least developed countries were fully implemented. In this regard, Tanzania was faced with various
challenges such as a review of its legislation to make it consistent with WTO commitments and the
notification process which was a heavy burden, all of which required enhancement of institutional and
human resource capacities in trade-related information management.  Improvement the of Tanzania's
exports and of its share in global trade had been the major focus of Tanzania's trade policy.  Some
specific promotion measures which were being applied included trade information, export incentives,duty draw-back schemes, trade facilitation for documents and procedures for simplification, as well as
trade fair participation.  The following needs for technical cooperation had been  identified.  Needs
related to solving the supply capacity constraints, including building capacities for enhanced
productivity, product development and diversification through improved research activities;
development of infrastructure linking production areas with export outlets;  and provision of reliableenergy for industrial production; partnerships in upgrading  telecommunication systems and other
infrastructural systems.  Needs related to policy formulation and implementation, includingWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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strengthening the private sector, particularly human resource and institutions,  as well as ministerial
departments to enable them to become active in trade policy formulation, review and implementation;
review of the regulatory system to align it with WTO rules and increasing the awareness of the public
of the WTO Agreements.  Resources and technical assistance were needed to establish efficient
information systems to identify market access constraints in the area of finance and credit facilities
and to facilitate market development and adaptation programmes; studies in product design, qualitypackaging and standardization.  Furthermore, assistance was needed for the rationalization and
improvement of the efficiency of trade support service institutions.  Tanzania was in the process of
establishing a Business Council and an Investment Centre as a one-stop shop organization for the
purpose of facilitating new and current investments.  Assistance was needed for human resource
development, including training of public and private personnel in market research, training of
customs and other staff involved in trade efficien cy and in the use of different information and
training of the private sector exporters and institutions, in particular the small to medium enterprises,to enable them to strengthen their role  using the opportunities of trade liberalization.  In conclusion
he said that opportunities existed to make Tanzania a new supplier of goods and services with a view
to becoming a viable trading nation.  Some of these opportunities were expected to arise in response
to Tanzania's own longer-term effective management of the economy and its initiative to eliminate
inefficient trade systems.  Nevertheless, the development partners had an important role in reinforcingthese efforts.  Most of the delegations in this room today including the Chair represented countries
which had been very supportive in his country's efforts to improve its economy in general and its
production and trading capacity in particular.
110. The representative of the ITC, speaking on behalf of the six agencies introduced the agencies'
Integrated Response.  Putting the Integrated Framework exercise into perspective, he noted that the
needs assessment contained in WT /LDC/HL/12/Add.9 pointed out that total flows of assistance in
terms of Official Development Assistance represented over 40 per cent of GNP in Tanzania, whilst
the subject of the High Level Meeting was limited to trade-related technical assistance.  He
nevertheless underscored the need for coherence and effectiveness in such trade-related technical
cooperation efforts.  The document drew attention to the fundamental economic problems of Tanzaniasuch as a narrow industrial base with heavy dependence on traditional commodity exports.  It also
noted that significant policy change in support of private sector-led development over the last several
years had begun to show positive results.  The document pointed out that the fundamental aim of
Tanzania's policy reform effort was to accelerate the development process through improved
international competitiveness, improved efficiency in the allocation of resources stimulating domestic
savings and investment and strengthening technological capabilities.  He welcomed this approach and
the reforms and support of it and noted that the policy framework to spur private sector-led growth
and trade development should be continually evolving.  He said that the six agencies had initially
reviewed these needs and had found them to be consistent with their perception of the needs from
experience in collaborating with Tanzania and welcomed the fact that activities which the six had
under way or planned went a long way in addressing these needs.  This assertion as well as any gaps
in the Integrated Response to Tanzania's needs assessment were for discussion.  He drew attention toone operational activity, the Joint Integrated Programme for Tanzania developed by ITC, UNCTAD
and WTO with Tanzanian officials.  This was part of a broader effort among the three Geneva-based
organizations to help select least-developed and other African countries to become more effective
participants in the world trading system.  Its main objectives were to build a national capacity for
understanding the changing multilateral trading system and implications for Tanzania's trade;  to helpconform Tanzania's policy and regulatory framework to seek maximum advantage from the
multilateral trading system, and to enhance Tanzania's export readiness in selected key areas.  Not
surprisingly, the needs for trade-related technical assistance which had been identified
comprehensively by WTO, UNCTAD and ITC missions were very similar to those expressed by
Tanzanian authorities in their needs assessment document and again reiterated by the Minister.  TheIntegrated Programme addressed squarely many of t hose needs;  it was developed in cooperation withWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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and was now under review by Tanzanian officials;  it was also being considered by potential donors.
In the process of preparing the Joint Integrated Programme, ongoing trade development activities in
Tanzania had been reviewed resulting in an intimate interaction between several of them and those in
the proposed Integrated Programme.  Furthermore,  the three other partners, the World Bank, IMF and
UNDP had been invited to consider synergies with their activities.  He hoped that the Integrated
Programme for Tanzania would become a core element of and make a major contribution to theIntegrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance of the six agencies for Tanzania.
111. The representative of Norway said that his country had been involved in development
cooperation with Tanzania for many years.  His authorities had welcomed Tanzania's recent improved
economic performance.  Norway wa s involved with Tanzania in a programme of approximately
US$30 million annually, covering a range of areas;  it focused on cooperation to attain sustained
economic wealth and on industrial and business development.  Within the industrial and business
sectors, Norway's programme had in particular suppo rted micro-credit projects and projects to ensure
better standardization and quality control within a specific trade department and a public owned bank
NBC.  A special scheme existed to promote devel oped country exports, including exports to Norway,
and activities under this scheme to Tanzania had been successful, for instance in facilitating imports
into Norway of cut flowers.  As mentioned in the needs assessment, a Joint Integrated Technical
Assistance Programme was developed by ITC, UNC TAD and WTO in 1996 to help selected LDCs
and other countries in Africa to become more effective participants in the new world trading system
and to implement WTO Agreements.  Tanzania was one of these selected countries and recently
Norway had contributed US$106,000 to initiate essential training activities scheduled to take place in
November this year which would also benefit Tanzania.  Norway's own priorities in this important
area coincided neatly with those in the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance.This was also true for Tanzania's needs assessment which reflected opportunities and challenges for
Tanzania to benefit from increased trade.  The needs assessment would be subject to further careful
study and consideration in Oslo, and his authorities would soon be back with proposals for further
concrete steps in close consultation with both Tanzania and the relevant international agencies.
112. The representative of the United Kingdom said that her country had a long-standing close
relationship with Tanzania in both trade and development assistance. It was the second largest
bilateral aid donor in 1996/97 and the Commonwealth Development Corporation was a major foreign
investor with total investments of £63.5 million in such important and critical sectors as food and
beverages, financial markets, tourism and industrial materials. Her authorities were looking forward to
deepening their relationship with Tanzania in th e years ahead particular emphasis on the Integrated
Framework which her country considered as the way forward to harness trade and investment in order
to promote internal growth and trade expansion which were necessary pre-conditions to increasing
prosperity and the reduction of poverty.  Turning to the needs analysis,  the removal of restrictions on
agricultural marketing and exports and the liberalization of the trade and exchange systems
represented a sound strategy for the future development and diversification of the economy.  Moving
away from a resource based economy,  the export of manufactured goods, tourism and off-shore
services also represented a necessary step on the way to integrating Tanzania into the global economy.The importance to Tanzania of further developing its regional links through SADC and within East
Africa was also recognized.  The needs analysis outlined a number of significant and important
initiatives and all were essential to creating the necessary conditions for potential trade expansion and
for building trade capacity. She commended the frankness of the Tanzanian government in identifying
the fight against corruption as a means of developing the conditions necessary for investment andincreased mutual trade;  she highlighted the fund amental importance of developing a policy-making
capacity within the areas of trade and investment; the emphasis which was placed on simplifying trade
procedures and trade facilitation was welcomed.  She endorsed wholeheartedly the importance which
Tanzania placed on human resource development as a key to successful economic transformation. The
UK was committed to better market access for least-developed countries including improved rules oforigin and would, as part of the follow-up to th is meeting, consider seriously how to improveWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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assistance to Tanzania to benefit from the opportunities created by trade liberalization.  Current UK
bilateral involvement in trade-related technical assistance had included programmes on private sector
development, for example in its support to Amker, an association linked to UK Tradecraft which was
assisting small enterprises to develop their products for export. The UK was also active in enterprise
development, for example, assistance in creating a micro-finance bank, Pride, and leasing services for
women entrepreneurs, Selfina. In addition, assistan ce was provided to the Customs Department, to the
PSRC which was engaged in privatization, an area in which the UK had special experience, and to
supporting the civil service reform programme.  In taking forward the needs assessment, she
suggested that the next stage should be to prioritise and cost the proposals in the Integrated Response
and to develop a timetable for monitoring and for evaluation with clear, quantified indicators of
success and the allocation of responsibilities between the six agencies and the donor countries who
wished to participate. The UK wished to be fully associated with the follow-up and to play a
constructive part in it and it would consider seriously the conclusions of the High Level Meeting witha view to identifying how it coul d draw on them to develop its own programmes of trade assistance
and technical cooperation so as to make them as responsive as possible to the needs of the developing
countries.
113. The representative of Finland said that Tanzania remained since the early 1960s the oldest
and largest recipient of Finnish bilateral aid.  In the field of trade Finland had contributed to the
reconstruction and reorganization of the Dar es Salaam harbour system and it had provided training to
local authorities in order to maintain the system.  Hundreds of Tanzanians had been trained by the
Finnish Export Training Institution Project from 1976 onwards.  Training  programmes had covered
export promotion, packaging, marketing and management.  Finland had supported trade-related
programmes in the UNCTAD, WTO and ITC.  As a c oncrete example, his authorities had just decided
to allocate an additional FmK1 million to the Integrated Technical Assistance Programme with
Tanzania as the main recipient.  Finland was prepared to make further financial and technical
contributions on the basis of the trade-related technical cooperation needs assessment for Tanzania.
During the recent state visit of the President of Finland to Tanzania, it was agreed to start concrete
cooperation between the confederations of Finnish and Tanzanian industries.
114. The representative of the European Communities said that Tanzania was one of the European
Communities' closest traditional partners in eastern Africa for which the Commission administered
the European Development Fund.  The national indicative programme based on the second Financial
Protocol to the Lomé Convention which should come into force next year included a financialenvelope for ECU240 million to be spent in the period up to the year 2000.  It concentrated on
transport infrastructure and the social sectors but also envisaged cooperation in the private sector and
tourism development.  In addition, his authorities had agreed on a regional indicative programme for
eastern Africa with a financial envelope of ECU194 million for the same time period,  for regional
economic integration, infrastructure and cross-border trade and food security in the region.  Theseventh EDF had funded a project to computerise customs and trade data in Tanzania, worth
ECU6.7 million as well as the advance cargo information system, worth  ECU8.5 million.  In
referring to the needs assessment, he said that more needed to be done by Tanzania in liberalizing
foreign trade. Also, little had been done towards furt her regional integration.  He agreed fully with the
remarks made by the representative of the United Kingdom in this regard. The EuropeanCommunities were particularly keen to strengthen regional economic integration in eastern Africa.
Moreover, the fact that different para-statal bodies were still heavily involved in trade development
activities needed to be addressed.  Although Tanz ania participated in CO MESA, informal customs
procedures still constituted serious non-tariff barriers.  The reintroduction of a 2 per cent export tax on
non-traditional products seemed in contradiction with the proclaimed goal of diversification and
improving the competitiveness in that sector.  The im pact of the erosion of preferential trade regimes
seemed to be overstated with regard to Tanzania, which was illustrated  with examples in the needsassessment which were not relevant for Tanzania but perhaps were so for other least-developed
countries in the region. Too many trade support activities still relied on government intervention asWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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was mentioned in the needs assessment.  More emphasis should be given to reforming the regulatory
system and to strengthening the private sector institutions.  The needs assessment looked like a
general shopping list and would need further prioritization.  His authorities were interested in taking
part in further discussions among donors on these issues.  In order to meet some of the suggestions
made in the needs assessment, the European Development Fund would  stress rehabilitation of
transport as a first sector of concentration representing a crucial factor in order to facilitate national,regional and international trade flows.  Furthermore, 20 per cent of the national indicative programme
had been set aside for different activities including tourism, private sector development and
institutional strengthening. Plans existed to streng then the institutions in the tourism and natural
resource sector and for a private sector development identification study, which should fit well into
activities of other donor agencies.  He pledged the Commissions's support to have further coordination
meetings on these issues.  Tanzania was a country where cooperation and coordination between
multilateral and bilateral donors was already working well in the sectors of education, health andrecently also in rural development. In the same vein he expected close cooperation amongst all
interested parties in the field of private sector and trade development and his authorities were looking
forward to discussing sectoral development programme s in conjunction with the joint initiative by the
six agencies to help the country be more competitive on the global market and in the regional area.
115. The representative of Sweden said that Tanzania's low export and external trade could be
attributed to many factors at different levels, thus requiring a broad approach.  Technical assistance
with the positive aim of increasing exports and trade had sometimes been less efficient because of
support to isolated projects without considering them in their broad context.  Some of the
impediments for increased growth and trade in Tanzania could only be removed by the governmentitself, by continuing the economic reform process leading to macro-economic stability, the reform of
the public sector and the establishment of an economic environment for market-led economic growth.
Tanzania had during the last ten years made considerable progress from the starting point of an
inefficient planned economy.  Loss-making parastatals had been privatized or commercialised, prices
had been deregulated and trade in general had been liberalized.  However much remained to be doneto achieve increased growth and trade including incr eased exports.  Tanzania was a poor country with
a heavy debt burden and it would in the foreseeable future be dependent on external technical and
financial assistance.  The Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance was an
important instrument and could be expected to have great possibilities to efficiently assist Tanzania at
the intermediary level, for instance, assistance to ensure the availability and cost of finance includingmicro-credit, cost of utilities like energy and transport, and the legal regulatory framework.  Also, for
trade enterprise support services like quality management and other types of support to increase
competitiveness for the individual firms.  However, one general lesson learnt was the necessity for
Tanzania itself to make the lead in the technical assistance process and thus be the owner of the
process.  The various international and bilateral donors to Tanzania would have special advantages inassisting in determined areas.  Sweden would, in th e spirit of its partnership with Tanzania in which
Tanzania held the initiative, continue to assist in areas where it had been involved in the past:
infrastructure, education and support to the reform of the public sector.  In terms of assistance to the
business sector, Sweden would continue its support to the Tanzanian Chambers of Commerce and to
the Enterprise Development Programme with the aim of reaching joint ventures between Tanzania
and Swedish companies in various fields and also financing possibilities for micro and small
enterprises.  He expressed the hope that Sweden's support, together with others, would lead eventually
to a smaller public sector with less bureaucracy and red tape and a market economy with better trade
and export potential.
116. The representative of Canada welcomed the fact the coordination was being exercised under
the leadership of Tanzania and noted that the Integrated Framework was an important and most
welcome first step in this regard.  Over the last three decades, Canada had provided approximately
US$1 billion in assistance to Tanzania primarily for transportation, economic management,WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 43
agriculture and the energy sector.  Canada had faced many budget pressures and the current
development cooperation programme focused on increasing the income-generating capacity primarily
of the under-privileged.  It focused mainly on raising the education level of the population by
improving basic education and also generating employment by improving the business environment
for small enterprises.  However, Canada also supported projects in a number of sectors such as
education, private sector development, mainly micro-enterprises, integration of women, communitydevelopment, telecommunication infrastructure and health.  Although these initiative were not defined
as trade-related technical assistance, they were aimed at strengthening the domestic and social
foundation which was critical to expand international trade. This round table, as well as the Integrated
Framework and the needs assessment helped his authorities to become more aware of the Tanzanian
agenda in the trade area. It also provided a better understanding of the work of the key multilateral
agencies and of their coordination efforts and his authorities would reflect on this to ensure that
Canada's bilateral cooperation programme remained well coordinated under the leadership of thegovernment of Tanzania, taking into account the initiatives of other providers of assistance.
117. The representative of Denmark noted that Tanzania and Denmark were engaged in a long-
standing, comprehensive and substantial bilateral cooperation. Denmark was one of the largest
development programme donors as regards Tanzania in absolute terms and over the next 5 years his
country intended to give annually about US$50 million until the year 2002, to which would be addedmultilateral funds channelled to Tanzania.  Of particular relevance to Tanzania was the support
programme which Denmark had for the private sector covering the commercial sector as well as the
financial sector. Based on Denmark's close cooperat ion with Tanzania, he expressed his authorities'
agreement with the thrust of the needs assessment as well as his support for the thrust of the
Integrated Response proposed to meet the assessed needs regarding trade policy and practices andalso regarding trade development.  The specific measures included in the paper to bring Tanzania
closer to full integration into international trade seemed to be basically correct and well chosen.
Denmark actively supported the idea of the establishment of an Integrated Framework, and as soon as
it was established and suitable project proposals had been finalised his country stood ready to
positively consider contributions.  It was clear that the measures in the Integrated Response could notstand alone.  Better market access for Tanzanian products and services, as pointed out in the needs
assessment were a vital component and his delegation had taken careful note of the reference in the
needs assessment to market access difficulties encountered by Tanzania.  His government would try to
work in the appropriate fora for the necessary improvement of market access.
118. The representative of Singapore said his country had been offering technical assistance to
Tanzania under the Singapore Cooperation Programme in conjunction with the Singapore UNDP
programme for technical cooperation among developing countries and the Singapore Training
Programme.  Since 1994, a total of 30 Tanzanian officials had been trained in ten fields, in national
social security, civil aviation, park management, building services, information technology, urban
management, export market development, productivity, a management programme for chief
executives for state and public companies and civil service reform.  In 1997, nine Tanzanian officials
had received training in Singapore.  Singapore was happy to increase the focus and impact ofSingapore's technical assistance programme to Tanzania.   He requested the Tanzanian government to
consider prioritising two or three key sectors as the focus of Singapore's bilateral technical assistance
programme with Tanzania as this would enable Singapore to share in greater depth its development
experience with Tanzania and thus make a concrete contribution to Tanzania's economic
development.
119. The representative of the Netherlands said that the analysis in the needs assessment reflected
the current Tanzanian government policy which aimed at increasing economic activity by
encouraging private sector participation while decr easing direct government involvement in business.
The Netherlands government supported this policy via its bilateral programme which aimed at the
improvement of the enabling environment condu cive to economic growth, crucial for theWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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enhancement of the Tanzanian share of the world market. The Dutch bilateral development
programme for the next financial year was geared even more to overcoming the supply capacity
constraints: physically, financially, commercially and in terms of human resource development.
Mentioned as examples were a programme to dredge  the entrance of the harbour in Dar Es Salaam,
improvement of landing system facilities in airports, macro economic support and relief, and support
of the Akeda Commercial Bank orientated to sma ll and medium sized enterprises, support to the
programme of ITC and UNDP relating to external trade of Tanzania of which the Dutch had chosen
two elements:   development of non-traditional exports and the institutional strengthening of the board
of external trade.  While the Dutch bilateral prog ramme coincided highly with the substance of the
needs assessment, a ranking of priority in the needs assessment was missing.  The Tanzanian
government should take the lead in this.  He cautioned against an overkill in terms of technical
assistance provided, and referred to the analysis itself which stated that the inadequate absorption
capacity of technical assistance was a significant impediment to its effectiveness.  Moreover, althoughthe subject of the High-Level Meeting was world trade,  inter-regional trade relations should get more
attention in the economic analysis. The most important factor for a successful enhancement of
Tanzania's share in the world market seemed  the commitment of Tanzania's partners, government and
private sector, to the implementation of its policy.  The government of The Netherlands was pleased
to continue its support to this important process.
120. The representative of Germany said that Tanzania was one of his country's most important
partners in development for the last decade.  As a follow-up to the Singapore Ministerial Conference,
the German government defined a new approach to integrated trade promotion and, using this
approach, planned to redesign the various instruments of development cooperation with a view to
creating synergies and increased coherence. It would start with a few selected pilot countries, among
which Tanzania.  Some of the criteria:  energetic implementation of trade reforms by Tanzania and theconsideration given by the government within the adjustment process to supply constraints.  Trade
promotion would be made more effective if integrated into a package of measures aiming to influence
all factors which had a negative impact on the competitiveness of business. This meant that the
Integrated Framework approach should not be limited to multilateral institutions alone but should be
extended to bilateral activities.  He wondered wh ere the bilaterals would fit in?  Turning to the
specific projects which Germany anticipated  in the economic field at the level of the enterprises, he
said that an integrated advisory project was under consideration aiming at the enhancement of thecompetitive and export capacity of small and medium sized industries in Tanzania, Uganda and
Kenya as part of a regional effort.  In addition, his authorities  were considering committing additional
funds up to DM1 million for projects for the improvement of the supply conditions in Tanzania.
Some funds had been made available on the occasion of this Meeting.  With reference to the needs
assessment, additional discussions were necessary and his authorities were ready to participate inthese discussions, emphasising coordination between the multilateral and bilateral side and
prioritisation.
121. The representative of Belgium said that his country had always been much involved in
African countries and Tanzania was still one of the most important recipients of Belgian development
aid. The Belgium cooperation intended to launch next year a new programme to support private sector
development for local small and medium sized companies but also supporting an autonomousdevelopment of the local private sector.  The needs assessment was a useful contribution for this. His
authorities hoped to be elaborating Belgian's new programme in coordination with other bilateral
donors and with the six institutions.
122. The representative of the United States said that the Tanzanian government and the
six organizations had produced a model set of do cumentation. He noted a number of areas where
USAID in Dar Es Salaam might be interested in pursuing cooperation, in particular in the area of
improvement of the investment and business envi ronment in Tanzania and the environment for
foreign direct investment. One area of interest whic h was under study was the system of contracting in
Tanzania and this might lead to some suggestio ns in the future on improvements in the legalWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 45
framework and the legal environment which might complement the programme to substantially
reform the legal system and the body of laws,  which the government of Tanzania already had
announced.  A second area of common interest was that of reducing the procedural and regulatory
bottlenecks for businesses and investors in the private sector. A study for USAID, entitled "The
Investor Roadmap for Tanzania", was completed earlier this year, presenting a study of the regulatory
environment which affected investors and identify ing in great detail the bureaucratic and procedural
burdens with which investors and the normal businessmen in Tanzania were faced.  It was a
diagnostic document which identified problems, not the solutions.  He suggested meeting the USAID
Mission in Dar Es Salaam to continue the discussion of this study as a possible opportunity for future
cooperation.  Referring to the Integrated Response, he said that UNCTAD had identified the possible
undertaking of a new investment policies review. He  would consult with UNCTAD,  with a view to
avoiding overlapping activities.  His authorities welcomed the considerable increase in foreign direct
investment in Tanzania in recent years in response to improvements in the macro-economicenvironment which had occurred in Tanzania and in response to the privatisation programme and
hoped that this would continue.
123. The representative of Japan said that his authorities welcomed the emphasis in the needs
assessment on private investment, export capacity building and the identification of technical
assistance  needs for those areas as well as for human and institutional capacity building.  It wasimportant that Tanzania continue to pursue its privatisation policy, particularly in the area of small
enterprises so that the private sector could be further developed.  The improvement of infrastructure
as well as the diversification of industry and trade were important elements.   Japan had been
cooperating with Tanzania for the past several years in its economic development and was its biggest
donor.  It  appreciated the steady progress Tanzania had been making with its economic recoveryprogress and its economic growth for the past several years.  Japan had sent an economic survey
mission earlier this year to Tanzania which was included in Japan's economic assistance programme
as one of several target countries for the application of new development strategies, adopted by the
Development Assistance Committee of the OECD.  The mission had agreed on the priority areas for
economic and technical cooperation: agricultural as well as small and medium-scale industries; basiceducation support; health and medical area; basic infrastructure; conservation of forests.
124. The representative of the Philippines said that the Philippine technical cooperation
programme had been implemented since 1979; it had been effective in a total of 131 countries which
included Tanzania.  In response to the needs of those beneficiary countries, training courses and
workshops had  so far been implemented in financial and related sectors, agriculture and fisheries,business management skills development and selected environmental issues.  Tanzania could request
specific programmes for technical assistance in areas of trade promotion and trade-related support
services. His country had a design centre, a one-stop shop centre and a small and medium sized
industry institute which was able to undertake this training.  The Philippines shouldered the cost of
training, hotel accommodations and local travel, field trips and training materials, as well as the use of
the training facilities and government institutions.  The Philippines, however, did not provide finance
for international travel for which it relied on  other financial arrangements, including trilateral ones.
125. The representative of Switzerland said that an integrated approach in the field of the trade-
related technical assistance was potentially an innovative mechanism if appropriately implemented.  It
should enable improvements in quality and timing of efforts to bring adequate support to the
necessary reform process undertaken by the country.   It also contained a promising opportunity for
long-term capacity building at the country level.  His country was already trying to implement such an
integrated approach by searching for greater coherence and synergies in the segments of its assistance
at country level.  In the particular case of Tanzania, Switzerland had been active for many years as adevelopment partner and it was or had been active in bilateral debt relief operations and balance of
payments assistance. These macro-economic instruments complemented actions for over
SwF30 million per year in the field of public health, transport infrastructure, private sector
development including access to macro finance, civil service form and agriculture.  In addition,WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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Switzerland had recently approved the financing of a large and comprehensive human resource
development project in the field of export and supply management as part of a wider trade-related
UNDP programme.  He hoped that the implementation of an integrated approach would enable a
greater dialogue to reinforce the so-called demand-driven aspects of technical assistance as well as
facilitate coherence of trade development aspects in the global development strategy of Tanzania.  He
emphasised the distinction made by Switzerland between an integrated approach as a mechanism forcoordination and a dialogue in search of appropriate solutions at the country level and individual
country projects or programmes to be included in the framework mechanism.  Assistance should be
designed to provide consistent and sustainable long-term capacity in the country.  For this purpose, it
should enjoy large public support as well as political commitment for providing expected success.
National authorities could not be replaced in the responsibility of policy design but the sequence and
timing of the assistance provided to support the reform process was equally important.   His
authorities encouraged the development of an inter-ministerial coordination body and in this regard,welcomed the greater involvement of beneficiary countries in the needs assessment and
implementation process of technical assistance with the creation of a national focal point for the
provision of all trade-related technical assistance.  His country was also interested in learning
Tanzania's point of view on the needs assessment process in preparation of the High-Level Meeting
including the dialogue with the private sector participation. Round tables or equivalent fora at countrylevel were a positive step to improve a much necessary dialogue and preparation and review of all
trade-related technical assistance.  It should include the wide range of on-going projects in the context
of trade. The present round table was a good starting point and should be followed by the application
of the mechanism provided for in the proposed Inte grated Framework to enable this dialogue to gain
in depth.  In accordance with the commitment of Tanzania, Switzerland was looking forward toaccompanying Tanzania along those lines together with the multilateral agencies and a wide range of
donors.
126. The representative of Korea said that the majority of technical assistance from Korea to
Tanzania had been focused on the agricultural sector.  Aid from Korea consisted of provision of
equipment in the fields of public health, public administration and agricultural development.  In
formulating the future aid programme for Tanzania, Korea would place priority on medical and health
care system improvements and advancement in agricultural productivity as this was the core sector ofTanzania's economy.  With regard to the needs assessment of Tanzania, Korea was currently
providing various trade-related technical assistance programmes including in the area of a Korean
training programme on the WTO Agreements for developing countries, a training course on trade
promotion strategies, a customs administration training course and despatch of information on trade
promotion. The training programme on WTO Agreemen ts was conducted twice a year under the co-
sponsorship of the Korean government and the WTO secretariat with full funding from Korea and had
as its main objective assistance of government of ficials of the developing countries including LDCs,
to better understand the WTO Agreements and thereby facilitate their implementation.
127. The representative of Ireland said that Tanzania was a long-standing and important
development cooperation partner for Ireland.  The Irish government's cooperation programme with
Tanzania operated  on a partnership basis and discussions had been taking place in Dar es Salaam
recently, which showed that the Tanzanian government was taking the lead in the developmentcooperation process and was reasserting its ownership over this process. Her authorities therefore felt
that this ownership should also be reasserted in the implementation of the Integrated Framework and
in this regard repeated the need for closer integration of bilateral cooperation into the proposed
support to be provided by the six agencies.  An example of this was the support which was envisaged
to assist Tanzania to develop its extensive tourism potential.  Her authorities had produced a master
plan for tourism last year which was endorsed by the Tanzanian government and implementation had
started recently, particularly in the area of support for tourism training in order to help Tanzania toimprove the quality of its tourism planning and its tourism product.  She urged that these activities
should be taken into account by the multilateral agencies in the implementation of the Integrated
Response.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 47
128. The Chairman in his concluding remarks said that many delegations had spoken about their
long-standing programmes with Tanzania and that it had been said that it should not be expected from
the agencies to be better integrated than each of  the bilateral donors. He welcomed the intention of
delegations to support the programmes of the ITC, UNCTAD, WTO or more generally the Integrated
Framework in future as a good approach beca use supporting an Integrated Framework would
necessarily entail integrating its support.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 48
NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
UGANDA
Chair:  Ms. G. Bartoli (World Bank)
129. The Chair said that the basic documentation was contained in WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.10.
130. Minister Rwendeire, Minister of State fo r Trade and Commerce of Uganda said that, in
presenting his country's needs assessment, he would focus on three specific objectives.  First to
demonstrate that it was possible to achieve economic success if there were commitment, resilience
and creativity in the implementation of the structural adjustment programmes,  provided that these
were underpinned by political stability and good governance.   Second, he would mention those areas
where support had been secured. And third,  focus on the priority elements which constituted major
gaps in the responses to Uganda's needs assessment.  While Uganda suffered political turmoil, social
strife and economic mismanagement particularly in the 1970s to the early 1980s,  its economic
performance in the late eighties had been  encouraging, as a result of successive economic reformsand structural adjustment initiated and implemented consistently and resolutely over the last decade.
His country's  government had taken a deliberate decision to introduce and maintain favourable
macro-economic policies and measures which facilitated business operations, such as the maintenance
of a foreign exchange rate which was both freely convertible and based upon forces of supply and
demand,  pursuing a monetary and fiscal policy such that inflationary pressures were minimised,maintaining an open foreign trade regime which did not discriminate against imports in order to
protect domestic industries and the adoption of measures to deepen trade reforms, including the
introduction of a new tariff code this year which lowered most tariffs from a level of 30 per cent to
20 per cent;  a single low uniform rate was intended to be introduced over a three year period.
Moreover, most importantly, the government had involved its relevant economic partners in policyinitiation, formulation and coordination for trade as well as overall macro-economic issues which had
an important  impact on the economy.  The government had recognised that as far as possible, the
production of goods and services should be left to the private sector.   Accordingly, it had adopted a
vigorous privatisation programme with the aim of  privatizing all the state-owned parastatels and
enterprises by 1998.  It was also undertaking comprehensive civil and military service reformsthrough down-sizing of its workforce in a bid to attain optimal size and efficiency in the delivery of
services.  The government  recognized shortcomin gs in Uganda's legal system especially as the
volume of the business activities expanded.   To address these shortcomings, the government had
established a Law Reform Commission which was re viewing commercial and related laws including
land titling.   Similarly, the government  conducte d a review of the regula tory framework with the
objective of streamlining it in order to facilitate business conduct whilst at the same time preserving
the public interest.  However, it was not easy to sell these reforms to the public.  Tense moments had
occurred which required firmness, creativity and transparency in order to manoeuvre through some
stormy weather.  Uganda's GDP  grew by an annua l average of 6.5 per cent over the last 10 years and
in the last five years growth had averaged  about 7 per cent.   Real per capita income had increased by
close to 4 per cent although it was recognised that the per capita income was low.  Inflation had been
reduced to an annual figure of well under 10 per cent, compared with 250 per cent for 1986.  Thebudget deficit had been contained to a figure be low 10 per cent of GDP and the target for this
financial year was between 5 per cent and 6 per cent.  Uganda was in the process of turning its
economy completely from the rehabilitation phase to more sustainable growth  based upon  a wider
range of sectoral production, with agriculture remaining the dominant sector in the economy.
131. These measures and achievements notwithstanding, Uganda was still one of the LDCs facing
continuing obstacles to achieving meaningful results and to  full integration into the multilateral tradeWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 49
system and expansion of its trade with the rest of the world.  Uganda's needs assessment categorized
those obstacles in two areas: creation of a better understanding of the implications of Uruguay Round
and overcoming supply constraints.  His government  welcomed the proposals by the six agencies for
the follow up to and implementation of the WTO ag reements and hoped that a definite commitment to
fund operations for implementation would be forthcoming enabling it to attract staff to coordinate on
WTO matters.   As regards supply side constraints,  lack of basic infrastructure was  the leadingconstraint to Uganda's economic development, compounded by the fact that Uganda was a landlocked
country and that most foreign trade had to travel long distances over poorly maintained truck roads or
railways, while internally the state of the feeder roads linking productive areas was poor.  Other
problems arose out of high costs and unreliable supply of power, water and other utilities like
telecommunications, lack of cold-storage facilities to handle vegetable exports such as fish, flowers,
fruits and vegetables, an area with great potential for diversification, including value added.  Uganda
could  become the commercial centre from which to explore the economic potential of the great lakeregion through, for example, development of Uganda's airport.  Another supply-side bottleneck was
the poorly functioning financial sector.  It suffered from under capitalization, low savings and
inadequate financial instruments necessary to stimulate supply response, which called for  assistance.
His country needed additional assistance in those tw o areas and he hoped that today's meeting  would
be the first step in efforts to fill the gaps in the Integrated Response, with a view to enabling Ugandato become an effective player in the international market.
132. The representative of UNDP, speaking on behalf of the six agencies said that the six agencies
welcomed the fact that the labyrinth of bureaucratic controls which used to be the hallmark of
economic policy  had been dismantled.  As the government sought to move beyond macro-economic
stabilisation to sustained long-term structural tr ansformation and sustainable development, they also
welcomed the fact that export promotion backed by private sector development was to remain the
linchpin of the country's economic strategy.  However, for this to succeed, a number of constraints
both indigenous and exogenous would have to be re dressed, which had been well articulated by the
Minister.  In a bid to overcome these constraints, Uganda would require extensive technical assistance
in support of its efforts, as listed  exhaustively in the documentation on Uganda.  There were ongoing
interventions and initiatives in the pipeline by the six agencies to be undertaken in a collaborative and
coherent manner to address the needs identified.  One addressed the level of compliance with the
WTO agreements and, as part of the six agencies' Integrated Response UNCTAD was to assist in theestablishment of the inter-ministerial committee (WTO Unit) on WTO matters and in the organization
of two sub-regional meetings for training of relevant officials.  The WTO was to supply the Ministry
of Trade with computer materials and documentation on WTO Agreements to assist in the
implementation of WTO Agreements as early as next year.  Under its institutional capacity building
programme, the World Bank was supporting the Law Reform Commission to include in its work theUruguay Round Agreement Implementation Bill and to help the Commission undertake a review of
all trade-related legislation.  Under its regional programme for capacity building for trade and
development and under its private sector development programme UNDP was to expedite action on
the training of trainers programme to develop local capacity.  UNDP was in the process of
strengthening both the human resources and the technical capacity of the Uganda National Bureau ofStandards.  The joint UNDP-ITC project on market access provided for the establishment of a trade
information network with in the commercial system.  In addition, trade information was a key
component of the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC joint integrated programme for Africa.  The IMF was to
provide assistance in reviewing and updating customs legislation and regulations and UNCTAD
would provide assistance to the Customs Department in adjusting their software to the requirementsof the Customs Valuation Code.  As regards supply constraints, the World Bank was providing
assistance to enhance efficiency of the services sector within its ongoing programme of financial
sector adjustment and under the planned protected areas management project.  The ITC had a major
project in the area of trade-related human resource development and the World Bank, under its private
sector competitiveness project, was assisting in the development of managerial and trade policyWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 50
implementation capacity.  Infrastructure constraints were being dealt with under the World Bank's
ongoing power, water, transport and enterprise develo pment project.  With regard to trade promotion
and support services, the UNDP, UNCTAD, ITC project on the capacity building programme for
trade and development focused on strengthening of  trade institutions;  UNCTAD would advise the
Ugandan governments on investment codes and promotional strategies to enable the design and
implementation of export incentives compatible with the WTO Agreement on TRIMs and the one onSubsidies.  ITC was to provide advice on the harmonization of bank guarantees under a programme
on trade financing.  In the framework of its priv ate sector development project, UNDP was to support
the strengthening of national capacity for entrepreneurship and enterprise development, including
areas such as enhanced negotiating skills, technology transfer as well as micro-finance for small and
micro enterprises and to assist in the revision of the policy and legislative framework for small and
medium sized enterprises.  Finally, under its enterprise development project, the World Bank was to
assist in developing appropriate export financing schemes particularly for small and micro enterprises.
133. The representative of ITC referred to the ITC-UNCTAD-WTO Integrated Programme for
Uganda  (attached to WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.10).  This was part of a broader effort among the three
organizations to help selected least-developed and other African countries in becoming more effective
participants in the world trading system.  Its thre e main objectives were to build a national capacity
for understanding the changing multilateral trading sy stem and its implications for Uganda's trade, to
assist in conforming Uganda's policy and regulatory framework to, and seek maximum advantagefrom, the multilateral trading system, and to enhance Uganda's export readiness in selected key areas.
He expected that this programme would interact with other externally supported trade development
activities for example, UNDP's and World Bank's private sector support efforts, particularly in
strengthening Uganda's private sector foundation and would generate synergies with EU activities in
the formulation of export marketing plans for private associations.
134. The representative of USAID said that most  USAID decisions were taken by its Resident
Missions in the countries, which in this case was located in Kampala.  USAID's programme amounted
to US$50 million for this year, for activities in seve ral sectors in Uganda;  assistance to the so-called
economic growth sectors continued to be a priority.  Among the on-going projects was one relating to
the development of non-traditional exports in the agricultural sector and improvements in productivity
both for export of higher value-added and high-value  crops to Europe as well as to the development of
exports of maize and beans to neighbouring markets (the project was mentioned under point C of
Uganda's needs assessment as "IDEA").  Another project, aiming to develop micro finance institutionsin Uganda, was assistance to the presidential forum which concerned the reduction or streamlining of
the so-called second tier regulatory obstacles to private business in both their investment and trade
activities.  He wondered whether the labyrinth of controls had been completely dismantled in Uganda.
It was one of several African countries where US AID and/or the World Bank had conducted so-called
investor road maps and at that time a number of important obstacles remained compared to Namibia.His authorities were nevertheless of the view that Ugandan authorities were committed to further
rationalisation and reduction of these regulatory obstacles and his Mission in Kampala would want to
continue to provide assistance.  The Minister had mentioned that one area which needed
infrastructural development was feeder roads, which had been emphasised in USAID's programme.
He welcomed the proposed collaboration with the African Economic Research Consortium (sectionA(l) of the Integrated Response), which was a strong regional organization supported  by USAID
funds.  He drew donors' attention to one complaint noted in the submission from Uganda regarding
previous educational seminars and workshops in Uganda  reaching a negative conclusion about the
effectiveness of some of these seminars and workshops in that they might have been too academic for
the audience and were not reaching the private sector.
135. The representative of the European Communities congratulated Uganda for its efforts in
rehabilitating its economy and for its willingness to promote regional integration together with its
brother countries in East Africa. The European Co mmission on behalf of the EC member states wasWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 51
proud to have contributed to support these efforts which had the objective of helping Uganda leave
the list of the least-developed countries.  The EC was ready to support Uganda as demonstrated by the
negotiated document, signed this year between the Ugandan government and the European
Commission, which  fixed the lines along which the future European Development Fund (worth
ECU210 million) would be dispersed.  This assistance would largely support the infrastructure with
special emphasis on the northern corridor in order to promote regional integration and trade. It alsoenabled micro-credit whilst the European Investment Bank was supporting Uganda largely with its
Apex facility.  As regards the institutional bottlenecks, while his authorities praised the Ugandan
privatisation process, one should be careful not to design new or existing institutions in such a way so
as to allow them to strangle and  drown the potential exporters as his authorities had experienced in
the past with some requests  regarding the Ugandan National Bureau of Standards.   A bottom-up
approach had to be ensured using  the existing capacities in Uganda.
136. The representative of Denmark said that Uganda and Denmark were engaged in a long-
standing comprehensive and substantive cooperation. The amount of Danish bilateral development
cooperation disbursements in 1996 was in the order of US$65 million, added to which were
multilateral funds channelled to Uganda.  Of particular relevance to Ugandan foreign trade was a
private sector programme which strengthened commercial links between Ugandan and Danish firms.
Aid to the international airport had focused on improved airport handling of merchandise and he
hoped that this would go towards solving the problems caused by the landlocked situation of Ugandaas was referred to in the opening statements by the Minister.   Denmark was an advocate of the
Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technica l Assistance and it stood  ready to positively
consider contributions to finalised project proposals.  He drew attention to the proposal in the
Integrated Response concerning the creation of a focal point (WTO Unit) to handle Uganda's interests
in the field of international trade policy.  Based on his own country's experience, his authoritiesconsidered this proposal to be of the utmost importance and would be pleased to make their national
experience and knowledge available if this was of interest to Uganda.
137. The representative of Norway said that in 1996, Uganda became one of Norway's major
development partners and close to US$20 million were allocated in development assistance.  His
authorities were presently engaged in a dialogue w ith Uganda to draw up a country programme for the
coming years.  So far, the main focus for Norwegian development cooperation with Uganda based on
the continuing dialogue had been primary health service and support to the democratisation process.
Considerable amounts had also been allocated to debt  relief. Within the industrial and business sector,
Norway had supported efforts to promote exports from Uganda to Norway of cut flowers and in
addition, Uganda should be well positioned to benefit generally from Norway's improved market
access measures for LDCs.  In 1996, a joint integrated technical assistance programme was developed
by ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO to help selective LDCs and other countries in Africa to become
more effective and efficient participants in the new world trading system and to implement theUruguay Round agreements.  Uganda was one of these selected countries.  Recently, Norway had
made contributions to these indispensable training activities.  He welcomed the reasonably high
degree of coordination amongst the agencies involved in the Integrated Framework in Uganda.
Uganda had the potential to diversify its export base and markets in order to increase its export
earnings, necessary to sustain high economic growth in the long run.  In this respect, trade-relatedtechnical assistance was an essential requirement.  As a follow-up of the Joint Integrated African
Programme and this High-Level Meeting, Norway intended to study carefully the Ugandan needs
assessment with a view to considering possible continued Norwegian support.
138. The representative of Korea said that his country had a relatively short history of providing
technical assistance which meant that Korea was currently contributing rather limited financial
resources.  However, it was making its best efforts to increase the volume of the technical assistance.
The Korean technical assistance programme for Uganda consisted mainly of the provision of
equipment in the field of public health and public administration, despatches of medical doctors toWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 52
improve medical services and personnel training to transfer Korea's experience in development
planning.  One of the major Korean assistance projects for Uganda was the provision of
US$7.5 million from the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund for the regional tariff
network expansion project in Uganda.  In formula ting future technical assistance programmes, Korea
would stress the importance of strengthening the capacity of public administration by transferring
Korea's developmental experience through training programmes and through providing administrativeequipment and by building an information networ k system.  Korea was currently providing various
trade-related technical assistance activities, including Korean funding of a WTO training course for
developing countries on the WTO Agreements, a trai ning course in trade promotion strategies, a
customs administration training course and the despatch of experts on trade promotion. The training
course on the WTO Agreements was conducted twice a year by the WTO secretariat with full funding
from Korea and had as its main objective to assist government officials from developing countries to
better understand the WTO Agreements thereby facilitating their implementation.  He hoped thatUganda would actively participate in this training course.
139. The representative of Switzerland said that the implementation of an integrated approach in
the field of trade-related technical assistance potentially was an important and innovative mechanism
to reinforce the support to Uganda's adjustment effo rts.  It should enable the improvement in quality,
quantity and timing of efforts by the international community to bring adequate support to the
necessary reform process undertaken by LDCs in general.  Switzerland was already trying toimplement such an integrated approach in its bi lateral activities by insisting on coherence in the
sequence of assistance provided to countries.  In the case of Uganda, Switzerland had significantly
contributed to macro-economic and structural adjustment efforts in the area of balance of payments
and had continued support by contributing to multilateral debt relief operations. In parallel, it
contributed to the technical assistance programme relating to supply and management techniquesimplemented by ITC.  Switzerland had announced  an interest in principle for the joint WTO,
UNCTAD, ITC Integrated Programme for Africa  and he was hopeful that the implementation of an
integrated approach would enable a greater dialogue to reinforce the efficiency and effectiveness of
technical assistance.  He noted that an economic policy open to greater international exposure should
be consistent and sustainable in the long term and should enjoy large public support and public
commitment.  In this context he welcomed the existence of an inter-ministerial coordination body and
the recent establishment of a consultation mechanism with the private sector ensuring a greaternational involvement in the needs assessment proces s.  His delegation would be interested in having
Uganda's assessment of such a mechanism.  Concerning the creation of a WTO Unit in the Ministry of
Trade and Industry, it was his authorities' understanding that this already existed within the Ugandan
government as a counterpart to its Mission in Geneva.  He would welcome additional information on
this Unit from the Ugandan government.  The Integrated Framework mentioned that the primaryresponsibility for coordinating the implementation and monitoring of the trade-related technical
assistance activities conducted under the Integrated Framework rested with the least-developed
country itself.  The task ahead for such coordination for technical assistance pre-supposed an immense
task and his authorities welcomed the possibility offered to LDCs to request a local advisor be
provided in order to assist the country in these responsibilities. In concluding, he said that hisgovernment was of the view that round tables or the equivalent fora at country level were a positive
step to improve the much necessary dialogue in the preparation and review of all trade-related
technical assistance.  It should include all on-going projects as well as initiatives like the WTO,
UNCTAD, ITC Programme.  Moreover, the present round table was too brief a starting point for
dialogue and coordination and he trusted that it would be followed by the application of the
mechanism provided for in the proposed Inte grated Framework for Trade-Related Technical
Assistance (WT/LDC/HL/1/Rev.1) to enable this dialogue to gain in depth.  Switzerland was looking
forward to accompanying Uganda along these lines together with the multilateral agencies and a wide
rage of donors.   He assured Uganda that Switzerland remained at its disposal for discussing in more
detail the most efficient ways to respond to its pr iority needs with a view to building long-term
capacity in Uganda.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 53
140. The representative of Austria said that Uganda was one of Austria's priority cooperation
partners and his country had been supporting a number of trade-related projects such as the
establishment of a secretariat to oversee promotion of small scale industries; assistance in the
establishment of a network of offices for the Uganda Investment Authority;  the creation of a market
promotion centre for the Ugandan Small Scale I ndustry Association.  The most important current
project which Austria supported in collaboration with the World Bank was on the reform of trade lawsin Uganda and his authorities trusted that the result of this reform effort would be conformity of
national legislation with the requirements of an open trading system and better adjustment to the
needs of entrepreneurs and private business.  Comparing these projects with the assessment of
bottlenecks as reflected in the Uganda's needs assessment demonstrated that Austria's activities were
coinciding with those needs as expressed by business representatives and by the representatives of
private sector associations and he expressed his country's willingness and readiness to continue along
these lines, also in the context of the Integrated Framework.
141. The representative of Japan said that Japan's main cooperation projects with Uganda were
those in the field of food production, education, power  supplies, road rehabilitation and assistance for
structural reforms.  With regard to the trade- and investment-related assistance to Uganda, he referred
to the Nagowa Vocational Training School Project. In addition, a programme on trade promotion was
launched in 1993 and a programme on trade and industry policies in 1996.  With regard to the needsassessment, the Japanese government would continue its assistance in the priority areas, in particular
basic infrastructure, human resource development, basic human needs and agriculture development.
142. The representative of Belgium said that in its needs assessment, Uganda had rightly
mentioned institutional bottlenecks and especially unreliable public utilities like telecommunications
as one of the obstacles to its trade expansion.  In this regard, he noted that Belgium had given asubstantial contribution of nearly US$7 million for a telecom project within the framework of the
SPA3 through the World Bank.  The Belgian bilateral programme amounted to another US$7 million,
mainly in support of rural development.  One condition for permanent integration into the economical
international environment was the establishment of a dense network of small and medium sized
enterprises.  His country was creating a micro-business programme which would be implemented incooperation with UNDP.
143. The representative of Germany said that as a consequence of the globalization, the German
government had defined a new approach to integrated trade promotion. Using this approach, his
government planned to redesign the various instruments it had in the field of development cooperation
identifying synergies and increased coherence. It would start this exercise with a few selected pilotcountries, including Uganda.  Trade promotion was made more effective if integrated into a package
of measures aiming at influencing all factors which had a negative impact on the competitiveness of
business.  This meant that the integrated approach should not be limited to multilateral institutions but
should extend to bilateral activities as well.  In the framework of Germany's bilateral assistance, a
regional integrated advisory programme was planned in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania with the aim of
enhancing the competitiveness and export performance of small and medium sized enterprises in these
countries.  Moreover, with the objective to strengthen the private sector activities, Germany assistedseveral development banks in Uganda in a total amount of DM168 million and participated in the
Uganda Leasing Company.  Furthermore, with an eye on the future, his authorities were prepared to
conduct further discussions with the multilateral institutions and the government of Uganda on
concrete assistance that his country might provide. Ideally, these activities should be complementary
to Germany's ongoing bilateral projects mentioned above and this could be the case for the jointWTO, UNCTAD, ITC project proposal for the follow-up to and implementation of the WTO
Agreements.  On the basis of parallel financing, his authorities were looking forward to discuss the
possible German contribution to this project for which an additional DM1 million was envisaged.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 54
144. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) referred to  IDB's technical
assistance programme and noted that with a view to  assisting the member countries in their efforts
towards meeting the challenges of the new global trading system, the Islamic Development Bank was
presently preparing a comprehensive technical assistance programme for its member countries which
would be implemented in collaboration with WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and UNDP.  The basic features of
this programme had been endorsed in principle by the Board of Executive Directors of the Bank.  TheBank's technical assistance to member countries for WTO-related activities would mainly be in the
areas of awareness creation, capacity building and strengthening of regional integration.  The main
elements of this programme were likely to be the following: organising seminars and workshops on
WTO Agreements with a view to improving the understanding of these agreements; conducting
analytical studies aimed at assessing the implications of WTO Agreements for the IDB member
countries;  providing advisory services for member countries through financing of experts and
consultants;  sponsoring officials from IDB member countries to take part in relevant training coursesoffered by various institutions such as the WTO;  strengthening the negotiation skills of the member
countries and assisting them in preparing  future negotiations on trade-related issues.  The technical
assistance activities of the Bank were demand- driven and the Bank encouraged its member countries,
especially the least-developed countries, to submit their technical assistance requests to the bank and
to make full use of this programme.
145. The representative of the Common Fund for Commod ities said that in the context of assisting
least-developed countries to promote their export sector, the Common Fund for Commodities had
financed about eight projects in Uganda, the la test one being the strengthening of the physical
marketing infrastructures in Uganda.   The Fund would be happy to collaborate further in this area
provided that it receive export-orientated commodity-based projects from the Ugandan government.
146. The representative from Sweden said that his country was not directly involved in trade
promotion in Uganda.  Swedish support went main ly to the social sector and to macro-economic
stability through balance of payment or budget support. His country had been engaged in providing
relief measures for Uganda.  He referred to Uganda's needs assessment and welcomed the fact that, in
general, trade policies were nowadays initiated in a dialogue between public and private actors.  Someobstacles to trade expansion were poor infrastructure, expensive utilities and weak institutional human
resource capacity in various areas, which would require huge investments for which Uganda, in light
of its enormous foreign debt, needed extensive external financial and technical assistance. Better
transport and cheaper utility costs could also be achieved through sub-regional cooperation with
neighbouring countries.  The renewed cooperation within east Africa could thus not only lead toincreased trade and attract more foreign and loca l investors but also facilitate the increased
cooperation in various functional areas.  His authorities had also noted that Uganda had a need for
technical assistance in more specific areas where the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and perhaps others had
better possibilities than Sweden to assist.  Sweden gave some support to Uganda in the trade
promotion field through development of capital markets for micro and smaller enterprises and by
assisting in the development of one intermediary based organisation, the Ugandan Manufacturers'
Association.  His authorities were of the view th at the Integrated Framework approach was important
for more efficient cooperation.  Although the concrete follow-up procedures had to be tested and
elaborated further, it was important that Uganda wa s the owner of the process and took a leading  role
in,  and prioritized,  the numerous project proposals.
147. The representative of the United Kingdom said that it was essential, as indeed the needs
assessment itself highlighted, that any technical assistance provided was sustainable.  He had noted
the comment in the needs assessment about officials who had been trained in WTO areas and of the
eight or so, only two were still remaining in relevant government services. He understood that Uganda
had pursued civil service reform, which presented challenges and therefore his authorities would
welcome greater attention to the sustainability of the technical assistance effort.  In particular thereWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
Page 55
was perhaps a need to take innovative approaches to technical assistance and consider the regional
level and perhaps work directly through the private sector as well as through the civil service.
148. Minister Rwendeire, Minister of State fo r Trade and Commerce of Uganda welcomed the
support shown in the meeting and said that he woul d certainly reexamine areas where the multilateral
organizations or bilateral donors had indicated a need to do so.  He added that in matters of
formulation of trade policy or industrial establishment as well as on the macro-economic issues, thegovernment had involved relevant stakeholders and he regretted that, at the beginning, he had omitted
to introduce Mr. Lutega, in charge of the private sector foundation.  He was leading a new institution
which coordinated the activities of the private sector to make a greater impact on and to influence the
government's actions to a greater extent.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
VANUATU
Chair:  Ambassador S. Syahruddin (Indonesia)
149. The Chair said that the basic documentation was contained in WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.11
150. Vice-President Barak Tame Sope, Minister for Trade, Industries, Commerce and Tourism of
Vanuatu introduced his delegation:  Second Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Pakoa Kaltongga;  Director
of Trade, Mr Roy Mickey Joy;  Director of Customs, Mr Sumbe Antas, and the Attorney General, Mr
Hamilison Bulu.   Vanuatu's needs assessment pointed to several key sectors with potential to develop
commercial comparative advantage, including the beef sector, where his country had already
developed important markets in Asia, Kava, Vanuatu's traditional beverage which was currently being
exported to the EC, US and Australia and was being used by the pharmaceutical industry as a natural
sedative, and  tourism.  The technical assistance needs identified in the needs assessment survey
included:  (1) advisory services with regard to acce ssion to the WTO;  (2) technical assistance for the
establishment of a Trade Point;  (3) training in trade policy, trade efficiency and business
development. Investment was  another key to his country's future development.  Vanuatu was
currently undergoing a major reform of not only its economic but also its political management,
recognising that without a stabilization of the political system, economic reform would be of little use.
This comprehensive reform programme had been implemented in a manner fundamentally differentfrom that of the more common forms of structural adjustment.  The economic reforms which included
many of the painful changes that would be found in any reform adjustment programme were instituted
in a manner in keeping with Vanuatu's  traditions of consultation, consensus and grass roots
democracy. Extensive consultations on the need for reform with all parts of civil society had been
held before the endorsement of the comprehensiv e reform programme.  Painful reforms were never
popular but perhaps the model which had been used in Vanuatu could be studied by others.  He
commended the Asian Development Bank for its work and support during this difficult time.  The
reforms submitted to Parliament this year included measures to reduce the size of the public service
sector by 10 per cent and to de-politicize the service, reduction of import duties, the introduction of a
broad-based system of value added tax and a user-friendly mechanisms to help investors set upbusinesses in Vanuatu, political reforms to improve the functioning of Parliament.
151. Speaking also on behalf of other small Pacific Islands he said that internal reform and
technical assistance alone were inadequate to tackle the problems which confronted investors, due to
their geographical isolation and dispersed positions and their small size which led to cost
disadvantages.  Trade preferences helped to pr ovide a commercial incentive to attract foreign
investors.  Trade liberalization had eroded trade preferences, from which Vanuatu, the Solomon
Islands and Samoa had greatly benefitted.  He wondered what in future would offset the cost
disadvantages inherent in the investments in the regi on; modalities were needed to assist in attracting
investment to the Pacific Islands region.  He wondered whether the international community was of
the view that the provision of large-scale technical assistance alone constituted an adequate response
to the threat of marginalization of the least-developed countries.  One option currently worked on in
the Pacific region was the development of an investment preference which would involve the creationof regional funds for the private sector, providing lo w interest loans, gestation loans as well as risk
capital which would be available to those investing in export diversification.  Availability of such
funds to both local and foreign investors and allowing for the benefits of these loans to be passed on
to investors, without any mark-up by financial in termediaries would perhaps present a modality to
facilitate the region's adjustment to a more open global economy.  Such a facility was more marketfriendly than trade preferences and would be available to both local and foreign investors, consistentWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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with possible future multilateral investment agreem ents.  Whilst technical assistance was crucial, it
was inadequate as a response to the marginalization of the Island States in the Pacific region.
152. Vanuatu was in the process of acceding to the WTO because, irrespective of any short-term
problems this could create, the rule of law was to the benefit of the small and the poor.  However, he
was concerned that the process of accession appeared to have little to do with the rule of law and
confirmed that accession to WTO was necessary to avoid a trading system based solely on power,something his authorities experienced  in the bilateral accession negotiations.  In those negotiations,
much larger nations had been demanding disciplines from Vanuatu which did not find their basis in
the WTO Agreements.  It seemed that these disciplines were demanded of a small LDC like Vanuatu
to avoid creating a precedent in accession negotiations with much larger countries, representing big
trade interests to WTO Members.  Some of those who demanded that Vanuatu impose agricultural
disciplines such as elimination of special safeguards, continued to maintain these options themselves.
Vanuatu's accession negotiations to the WTO were compounded by another factor,  the possibility ofgraduation of Vanuatu from the status of a least developed country to a developing country by the
United Nations.  This would mean conferring upon Va nuatu the same status as Singapore with a GDP
per capita of US$26,000 which, until recently was still defined as a developing country.  The WTO
ought to rationalise the categories which it used and he strongly urged the WTO to consider the use of
more sophisticated methodologies found in the UNDP Human Poverty Index in differentiatingbetween developing, developed and least-developed countries.
153. The representative of New Zealand said that his country had been pleased to provide funds
via its contribution to the WTO technical assi stance programme to enable the Vanuatu needs
assessment  to be prepared with UNCTAD assistance. The needs assessment identified sectors withexport potential, such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, tourism and off-shore financial services.
Vanuatu's immediate technical assistance needs fell into three broad areas:  advisory services,
technical assistance and training.  His authorities welcomed the proposed integrated response of the
six agencies to the needs assessment paper which provided a fairly comprehensive coverage of
Vanuatu's technical assistance needs in a manner which avoided duplication of effort.  The proposedWTO, UNCTAD assistance for Vanuatu's WTO accession bid would be helpful as would the role
envisaged in this area by the South Pacific Forum Secretariat which had provided considerable
assistance to date.  The WTO, IMF and UNCTAD initiatives to address specific technical assistance
needs in such areas as customs legislation, customs valuation, reforming Vanuatu's import regime and
intellectual property rights would be important to Vanuatu's application to join the WTO and itsoverall objective of an open trading regime.  The provision of specialised regional seminars and other
training on the multilateral trading system was also important to those Vanuatu officials working on
WTO matters and as well as on general trade issues.  His country stood ready to support the range of
initiatives of the six agencies to the extent its resources permitted. A key element in Vanuatu's trade
policy reform effort was the comprehensive reform programme, which his authorities welcomed andthey endorsed the broad thrust of the policy objectives and strategies outlined in the programme.  It
was ambitious in terms of action required and target dates and they accepted that it could place
considerable strain on the human and financial resources of Vanuatu.  His authorities would therefore
closely follow progress made by Vanuatu in implementing the programme and would continue their
strong support for the comprehensive reform programme under New Zealand's bilateral aidprogramme.  At present his country's support incl uded the funding of a New Zealand consultant to
undertake a design study for the introduction in Vanuatu of a goods and services tax, as a crucial part
of the reform.  His government was also recruiting a consultancy team to undertake an initial advisory
aid programme design visit to assess social and gender impact.  New Zealand development assistance
was funding a legislative advisor and providing direct support under its bilateral assistance
programme towards some of the economic sectors highlighted in the needs assessment, including the
agricultural security or quarantine project.  It also included the co-funding of a rural tourism support
centre in Port Vila which served as a central booking and administrative support and training agency
for small tourism operators in rural areas.  In addition to its bilateral assistance, Vanuatu alsoWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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benefitted from New Zealand support for the South Pacific Trade Commission which provided
assistance for Pacific Island exports to New Zealand and for the Pacific Islands investment and
development scheme which encouraged links between the private sectors of New Zealand and the
South Pacific.  The other key element in Vanuatu's trade strategy was its bid to join the WTO and thus
to reform its trading system in accordance with  international standards.  Accession placed a
considerable burden on applicant countries and his government encouraged Vanuatu to takeadvantage of technical assistance available through the WTO and other international organizations.
New Zealand had set out its expectations concerning Vanuatu's accession and had indicated a
willingness to help on a bilateral basis providing technical expertise as appropriate.  Additionally,
Vanuatu had already benefitted from New Zealand's funding of the WTO regional training seminar
held in Fiji this year and the Commonwealth Secretariat workshop on legal issues related to the
Uruguay Round hosted in Wellington in late June.  In  the provision of further assistance to Vanuatu,
his government wanted to ensure complimentary be tween its efforts and those of other international
and regional efforts, in particular from the WTO and the Forum Secretariat.
154. The representative of France noted the strong dependency of Vanuatu's exports on certain
products, the efforts made to diversify this export base, the growing share taken by services in
currency receipts of the country and the importance which the market of Europe continued to have for
Vanuatu's exports.  France was satisfied with the direction chosen by the Vanuatu authorities to
stimulate exports, in  particular the actions undertaken for the development of the private sector, to
recast the investment code, efforts under way in collaboration with the WIPO to establish a system to
protect intellectual property, and, in general, to design a policy and clarify the legal environment in
which enterprises and investors were developing. France provided support in the area ofinfrastructure, in particular renovation of the airport.  He commended the Vanuatu government for
their economic reform programme. He hoped that the messages heard today would reach foreign
investors, since Vanuatu's ability to take advantage of the global economy very much depended on
foreign investment.
155. The representative of Japan said that his country fully understood the situation in which the
South Pacific countries, including Vanuatu, were placed as well as the problems these countries faced
in developing social and economic welfare.  Japan, in the framework of its bilateral relations with
Vanuatu, established a new centre for trade with South Pacific countries in October last year which
was expected to improve trade, investment and tourism.  Secondly, his country conducted seminars onexport to Japan together with the governments of the South Pacific Forum and the private sector. A
summit meeting between the South Pacific Forum countries and Japan had taken place on
13 October 1997.  His authorities hoped to continue to improve their assistance to Vanuatu in the
future, in the area of human resources development through education and training based on the needs
identified by Vanuatu and through granting better infrastructure facilities in the areas of electricity,fisheries and transport.
156. The representative of Australia said that her country and Vanuatu had engaged in a fruitful aid
relationship since the days of the Colombo Plan and Australia was now one of the largest aid donors
to Vanuatu.  It was a country with the potential to achieve sustainable long-term economic growth anda better standard of living for its people.  Neve rtheless, the Australian authorities considered the
recommendation for graduation of Vanuatu from LDC stat us to be premature, particularly in the light
of the UN General Assembly's resolution to review the criteria and to consider the inclusion of a
vulnerability index for small island states. Australia saw globalization as a positive force for
development and for poverty alleviation.  Alternatively, the marginalization of countries from thisprocess for whatever reason could place them on the periphery of development and locked into
continuing poverty.  Australia was therefore highly supportive of the constructive approach taken by
the WTO and their partners of the Integrated Framework to capture the potential benefits of trade
liberalization for all countries including the least-developed.  In its aid programme, Australia was
giving increasing priority to assistance to establish the enabling conditions in which increased tradeWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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and investment were possible.  This was especially the case for Vanuatu.  The main focus for
Australia's bilateral aid to Vanuatu for the immediate future was the comprehensive reform
programme being undertaken by the Vanuatu government.  It promoted the complimentary objectives
of business-led economic growth and public sector reform.
157. Australia was providing significant trade - and investment - related assistance to Vanuatu.  In
particular, it was assisting Vanuatu in its accession process to the WTO through the provision oftechnical assistance and advice, such as the recent bilateral consultations held in Canberra.  During
these consultations, detailed discussions were held on many of the policy adjustments required for the
accession. As a follow-up, her authorities had invited Vanuatu to develop a proposal for further
technical assistance from Australia and her country was prepared to consider further funding for
assistance to the accession bid.  Vanuatu's indication that it was prepared to undertake trade
liberalization commitments and to bring all relevant  laws and regulations into conformity with the
WTO agreement was welcome.  Her authorities agreed that many of the policy commitments thatVanuatu would need to make in order to accede would make a positive contribution to the reform of
Vanuatu's economy, and that the level of commitment to the WTO which was appropriate for Vanuatu
should not be the same as for an industrialized country.  A number of WTO agreements contained
provisions taking account of Vanuatu's specific situation, needs and capabilities and in that light,
appropriate commitments to the WTO would have to be made.  The examination of Vanuatu's policiesin the WTO working party on the accession of Vanuatu had to determine in detail the adjustments
which Vanuatu would face in meeting WTO requirements and to assess how to assist Vanuatu in
determining how such adjustments might be addressed.
158. Turning to the broader aid programme, she said that Australia was assisting Vanuatu by
providing technical assistance in the drafting of trade and investment legislation, by providing specifictrade facilitation assistance including customs reform and the introduction of an automated system for
customs data. Assistance with airport safety and tourism planning was also being provided, which
would have trade benefits in the tourism sector .  Australia had a scholarship programme supporting
human resource development,  key for trade and investment support.  Vanuatu also benefitted from
several regional programmes:  the South Pacific project facility which assisted Pacific entrepreneursto secure funds for small and medium-sized enterprises;  a training programme to enable business
advisors and credit union staff to learn skills in successful business development.  Australia's
programme of assistance to Vanuatu would total this year AU$11.2 million and had amounted to over
AU$97 million in the last five years.  Her country was providing further assistance through a
programme for policy and management reform, assisting specific island governments to implementessential economic and public sector management reforms. It focused on increasing the efficiency and
accountability of governments in helping to develop an appropriate policy framework for natural
resource management, foreign trade and for investment in the domestic private sector.  The allocation
of policy management reform funds was additional to bilateral country programmes.  An additional
new initiative with potential benefits to Vanuatu was the new Commonwealth Trade and Investment
Access Facility proposed by the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard, to the just concluded
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh.  This facility would address the
difficulties being experienced by developing countries in adjusting to the multilateral trading
arrangements.  It would  be developed in accordan ce with and coordinated closely with the Integrated
Framework being developed by WTO and its part ners.  Coordination of development assistance
remained an important consideration for Vanuatu and Australia and France had recently embarked on
a collaborative approach to many projects and activities associated with their relative programmes.The comprehensive reform programme and now the Integrated Framework would enhance such
cooperation.   Australia recognised reform would require commitment from the Vanuatu government
over the years ahead.  Australia took its role as a major donor to Vanuatu seriously and affirmed its
plans to be an active partner in Vanuatu's reform and development.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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159. The representative of the Forum Secretariat said that there were 14 Forum island countries,
five of which were LDCs and mo re would be LDCs if a more sophisticated system for measuring
national economic conditions would exist.   Due to the cost and complexity of WTO accession, nine
Forum countries were not yet Members of  the WTO. Easier and cheaper mechanisms for very small
countries seeking accession would be helpful.  Not including Papua New Guinea, the combined
population of Forum island countries was just 2 million.  They were small countries, a long way frommajor markets, yet Forum members had open economies by world standards. The main feature of
these economies was their extreme vulnerability to economic and natural shocks ranging in changes in
market conditions for key exports to natural disasters and climate change which would affect small
islands disproportionately.  Arrangements like the EC STABEX, a scheme under the Lomé
Convention, had been crucial in reducing the vulnerab ility effect.  Forum island countries, as part of
the various conventions that had been entered into over the years had had duty free access for many
years to major markets like Australia, New Zealand and the EC.  The benefits of these arrangementswere now eroding as tariffs fell and indeed the EC 's confirmation that it would soon be extending this
to other LDCs meant that the very small economies would be faced with new sources of direct
competition.  This would be a major shock to several Forum island countries unless carefully
managed and obviously, in light of the time frames that the EC had mentioned, this matter was of
great urgency.  Forum island countries were working  hard to take advantage of global tradeliberalization and Forum Heads of government had recently adopted a far reaching economic action
plan aimed at getting the best quality domestic economic policies in place in the region.  This plan
was far reaching and the Minister had informed what steps Vanuatu was taking nationally.  Elements
of this plan included a commitment to free and open trade and investment and the establishment of
free trading conditions among the Pacific Island countries.  Pacific island countries were committed tointroducing world best-practice investment po licies based on APEC non-binding investment
principles in the next year and a half.  Even with all these good domestic policies and free-trade
access to major markets, small Forum countries were still going to struggle to achieve prosperity
because of the smallness of their domestic markets and their physical isolation. He welcomed the
Minister's suggestion to consider the concept of an investment preference.
160. The representative of UNCTAD, speaking on behalf of the six agencies noted that the inter-
agency response to the needs of Vanuatu in the field of trade development incorporated about
20 items of technical assistance.  Most were responses to specific needs which UNCTAD recently had
helped Vanuatu to assess.  For some of the offers to provide technical assistance funding possibilities
already existed and the commitments were expected to  translate into concrete action in the relatively
near future.  However, the majority of proposed activities needed to be formulated and budgeted as
part of a national programme of technical cooperation or envisaged at the regional level.  With respect
to this round table meeting he said that the idea to  complement the activities to be carried out at the
national level by a regional programme on selected subjects merited serious consideration in view of
the small size of the five LDCs of the Pacific.  The formulation of technical assistance activities from
UNCTAD could result in a programme at national level, complemented by a number of activities at
the regional level, perhaps in collaboration with the Forum Secretariat.  He recalled that a globalconference on the sustainable development of small island developing states had been held in 1994,
the so-called Barbados Conference.  The United Na tions Department of Economic and Social Affairs
and UNDP had recently invited all small island developing states to prepare project profiles and
programmes of technical cooperation with regard to the areas covered by the Barbados Programme of
Action.  Trade was one of these areas even though the main emphasis of the programme was onsustainable development. Such country-specific programmes would be submitted by individual
countries to a donors conference planned in about one year's time.  Several international and regional
organizations had been invited to formulate these projects and programmes, including UNCTAD and
UNDP.  The UNDP would be responsible for coordina ting support among several organizations in the
process leading to the donor's conference. Vanuatu should be giving serious attention to theseopportunities and consider preparing a national programme in the light of its needs assessment
prepared in the framework for the Integrated Framework - IMF, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP, World BankWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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and WTO - in anticipation of this donors' conference.  This represented an additional reason for
Vanuatu to pursue its consultations with the international organizations present at this round table
with a view to designing a national programme th at could ultimately be submitted to the donors'
conference.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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NOTE ON THE ROUND TABLE MEETING FOR
ZAMBIA
Chair:  Mr. C. Fortin (UNCTAD)
161. The Chairman said that the basic documentation was contained in WT/LDC/HL/12/Add.12.
162. Minister Alfayo S. Hambayi, Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia
expressed his appreciation for the coordinated efforts of the six agencies involved in the exercise and
he appealed to other bilateral cooperating partners to render additional support to this initiative.
Zambia was committed to enhance international trade as a fundamental component of its development
strategy.  It was his wish that the improved transparency resulting from the WTO Agreements be
consolidated by all.  The Zambian government was aware of the close linkage between international
trade and increased foreign investment and recognized that the opportunities offered by liberalization
were best utilized in an economy where private enterprise was the driving force.  To this effect,
Zambia had liberalized its trade regime and was taking specific measures.  It had:  (a) drasticallyreduced tariffs and removed all non-tariff barriers;  (b) removed all subsidies including subsidies on
agricultural products;  (c) eliminated all price controls;  (d) removed all foreign exchange restrictions;
and (e) created a one-stop investment centre to support investors and hence a comprehensive
programme of privatisation was under way and already more than 206 of the parastatels including
some parts of the mining industry had been privatised.  He expected that the privatisation of the minesshould be completed by the end of the year and the overall privatization programme should have been
completed by the end of 1999.
163. The restructuring of Zambia's trade policy  faced severe obstacles. The reluctance of some of
its trading partners to embrace the virtues of free trade constituted a major obstacle to Zambia's efforts
to increase exports.  Whilst Zambia implemented a simple transparent tariff system and did notimpose any non-tariff barriers, some of its partners remained intent on a one-way view of trade which
encouraged some in Zambia to press for a more pr otectionist attitude towards imports.  It was thus
important to be assisted in establishing operational mechanisms for the use of policy measures in
conformity with WTO rules against unfair trade, particularly safeguard measures, anti-dumping and
countervailing duties. He continued by saying that increased production capacity and improvedquality of exportable products were essential, re quiring new investment. Thus, investment promotion
had to be pursued with vigour and Zambia was, in this regard, undertaking a review of its Investment
Act and the legal framework for the establishment of export processing zones.  These measures
required urgent support.  Also requiring immedi ate support was Zambia's Bureau of Standards which
was essential to ensure Zambia's international competitiveness. According to the 1997 UNCTADReport, Zambia spent US$2.6 billion on debt servicing in 1995.  This was equal to 227 per cent of
annual export earnings.  The total stock of outsta nding debt was US$6.2 billion or 50 per cent greater
than GDP.  This situation had not changed significantly and was unsustainable.  Debt relief was
therefore crucial to harnessing local resources for investment. Resources which now went to debt
servicing would otherwise have been available for increased investment in economic and social
infrastructure.  Zambia was a landlocked country and needed assistance to develop and negotiate
arrangements with its neighbours which would re duce inland transport costs  rendering Zambia's
exports uncompetitive.  The role of the private sector in Zambia had become crucial in its economic
development. He noted that members of the private sector were part of the Zambian delegation and
said that his country requested technical assistance to sensitise and assist the private sector to
appreciate trade remedial measures. This support should also go to business associations who were
involved in policy dialogue and were attempting to orient their activities towards trade promotion.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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164. The representative of the World Bank, speaking on behalf of the six agencies said that the
agencies welcomed the Zambian government's increased focus on trade and in particular on export
diversification and on private investment. They commended the progress made in trade reform with
the elimination of import sales tax in 1995 and the simplification and elimination of exemptions
in 1996.  Zambia had undertaken extensive reform of its trade policy over the past decade, the details
of which had just been laid out by the Minister. The average import weighted tariff rate was now only11.4 per cent and the average collection rate was 8.9 per cent which was quite the exception in the
region.  The bright spot in the economic picture continued to be the strong growth of non-metal
exports which, according to the Bank's latest figures was 40 per cent in the first eight months of 1997
relative to the same period last year and about 27 per cent since 1994.  However, the overall supply
response was still weak and exports in 1996 (in dollar terms) were still below those of 1980.  The six
agencies fully endorsed Zambia's trade policy objectives, including ensuring an efficient customs
administration and creating a fair trading environment, in other words, a level playing field.  Theintegrated and coordinated response of the six agencies was at the same time a stock-taking and an
announcement of new commitments. She saw two priorities:  the adjustment of the legislative side
and of the customs capacity to the new trading environment under WTO;  and measures on the human
resource development side.  In the first area, the needs identified included: a strengthening of customs
valuation and updating customs regulations;  a review and the drafting of suitable legislation oncontingent trade remedies and the establishment of a domestic trade remedy system.  On the human
resources development side, the following was foreseen :  the training of government officials on the
provisions of the WTO Agreements, in trade negotiations and in the implementation of the trade
remedy system;  another area was public awareness building on the content and the requirements of
the WTO agreements.  By way of example, she me ntioned the IMF support aiming at strengthening
customs valuation.  Other agencies supporting the legislative reform in various ways were WTO,
UNCTAD and the World Bank.  Training programmes and workshops had been announced on
regional, COMESA, sub-regional and national level which addressed both government and private
sector operators.  WTO, UNCTAD, UNDP and the World Bank were involved in these training
activities.  The first in this series would be a sub-regional seminar on the economy and institutions ofinternational trade, scheduled for 17-22 November 1997.  Other seminars would follow next year.
Zambia already had a number of trade-related technical assistance projects from multilateral sources
and places outside the direct WTO context.  The agencies would like to think that they made some
contribution to the rise in non-traditional exports.  A lot of the right things were already in place in
Zambia and a critical analysis of the existing projects was considered a worthy exercise beforeembarking on new ones in order to be able to integrate the lessons that could be learned in the new
programmes.  She concluded by stressing that one was at the beginning of this process which had to
be continued with further prioritization and the costing of the programme. She noted that in most
cases a clear timetable already existed and, where this was not the case, one should be established as a
matter of urgency.  Clear quantifiable indicators also needed to be established which would allow the
monitoring of progress of the programme.  She assured the participants that this exercise was not
meant as one of an exclusive club of six.  The six had made the beginning but the picture was notcomplete without the bilateral donors' activities in this area.  She had heard in other sessions some of
the bilateral donors express the wish to be associated with the exercise in future and she expressed the
hope that the process of consultation within this In tegrated Framework would continue in Lusaka and
that all interested donors would be invited to participate.
165. The representative of the United Kingdom said that one of the important messages which had
run through this conference as through many similar discussions had been that political stability and
law-based democracy were vital to economic well-being.  The principles of the Harare and Millbrook
Declarations to which both countries subscribed had a vital contribution to make to Zambia's
economic recovery, to its closer integration into the world economy and to its ability to attract
investment.  The United Kingdom was a long-standing partner, the second largest bilateral donor andexporter to Zambia and a significant importer of Zambian goods.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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166. He had four comments on the wider policy aspects.  First, the United Kingdom's development
efforts were being refocussed on the elimination of poverty and on encouraging economic growth
which benefitted the poor.  His country wanted to help develop trade and investment to provide
sustainable livelihoods and would want to align its own efforts with those of the six agencies.  The
Integrated Response was a useful start but he urged the six agencies to work closely with other donors
in developing it. Second, he drew the attention of these agencies to the highly relevant results of thetwo Commonwealth Meetings in which Zambia and Britain had just taken part.  The report of the
Commonwealth Business Forum and the Edinburgh Commonwealth Economic Declaration were in
circulation and just to take two examples from them, the Commonwealth Trade and Investment
Facility and the strengthened Commonwealth fo r Partnership and Technology Management could
directly complement the responses which were listed in the Integrated Response. Third, although this
was not a meeting about macro-economic policy, the needs assessment and indeed Minister Hambayi
himself in his opening remarks has made several references to capital shortage, high interest rates,pressure on government expenditure, indeed the burden of debt on Zambia which was a matter of
obvious concern.  The United Kingdom would like to see speedy implementation of the highly
indebted poor country initiative across the board and in September on a multilateral Commonwealth
basis, his country had proposed a further initiative to tackle unsustainable debt which was called the
Mauritius Mandate.  Fourth, on trade liberalization, his government applauded Zambia's eliminationof quantitative import restrictions and its simplification of tariffs.  There was concern that Zambia had
not yet secured reciprocal access to nearby markets in COMESA and SACU countries. The UK
strongly supported the rapid lowering of barriers and faster regional integration.  This could help to
reduce transport costs which were crucial for Zambia to promote specialisation within enlarged
markets and to encourage investment.
167. He then turned to some points of detail in the Integrated Response and welcomed the frank
and wide-ranging needs assessment and the framework itself.  They could be strengthened by a clear
analysis of the evolving external policy environm ent, for example, the implications of a possible
EU/South Africa free trade area and of successor arra ngements for the Lomé Convention.  The United
Kingdom would wish to compliment the needs assessmen t.  In particular, to help small and medium-
sized enterprises, the UK was providing technical cooperation for the management company for a new
venture capital fund to finance Zambian SMEs;  early next year his country hoped to launch a project
to help exporters of food products and handicrafts and it should provide market information and
contacts, training and product development support.  The UK was also supporting the modernization
of customs administration, including an ASECUDA installation in the Zambia Revenue Authority andof the Commonwealth Development Corporation which was a British public institution now to
become a public and private partnership, which had investments of over US$100 million in Zambia in
the food, industrial, financial and other sectors.  In concluding he said that he hoped that the next
stage would be to prioritise and cost the proposals in the needs assessment and its Integrated Response
and to develop a mechanism for monitoring and evaluation with a clear allocation of responsibilities.
The UK and other bilateral donors would like to have a clear idea of how they could fit into and
contribute to this process.
168. The representative of  Ireland said that Zambia was an important priority country for Irish aid
and that last month a successful consultation with the Zambian authorities was held in Lusaka.  She
wanted to raise a number of points.  First an important positive feature in the Zambian economy at
present was the extent to which the fundamental changes which had taken place since 1991 in the
government's trade and economic policies, particularly in regard to trade liberalization anddiversification, were being reflected in the growth in non-traditional exports which were increasing at
double-digit rates and represented 25 per cent of total exports as compared to 10 per cent in 1991;  the
ongoing privatisation of ZCCM was expected to lead in the future to increasing productivity in this
area and stimulating future export earnings from mining.  Continued stimulation of export-led
economic growth from both traditional and non-tradi tional sources was essential because the objective
of economic growth was to contribute to reaching the government's poverty reduction programme
targets: at the moment 70 per cent of the people of Zambia were living below the poverty line andWT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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continuation of export-led economic growth was important if the government's target of reducing this to
below 50 per cent of the population by the year 2000 were to be met and Zambia were to improve the
situation in its human development indicators.  The way in which the role of the private sector was being
fostered in order to improve production capacity was welcomed.  Good examples of this were the speedand energy of the government's programme for privatisation of parastatel enterprises.  Another example
was the inflow of foreign private capital, estimate d at approximately US$200 million this year.  Through
its support for the investment promotion centre, Ireland was happy to assist Zambia to enable it to attractforeign and domestic investment into the economy;   Ireland's support to ZIC had recently included a
consultancy study on the development of export processing zones, recommending a pilot programme in
this area. Within Zambia, the level of dialogue between the government and the private sector had
improved considerably over the last five years.  Further progress was hampered by the lack of precise
technical knowledge and unders tanding of the issues rather than by any general unwillingness to cooperate
and she was hopeful that the technical support to be provided by the agencies as a follow-up to today's
meeting would address these constraints.  Tourism was an area with great potential for economic
development and the generation of export earnings.  By helping to increase the supply of high quality
personnel in the tourism industry, Ireland was also supporting Zambia's efforts to develop this important
sector.  Among the bottlenecks inhibiting the developmen t of sustainable export ca pacity identified in the
needs assessment document were lack of capital finance and high domestic interest rates;  Zambia's burden
of debt was also an important constraint in this area.  External debt servicing currently absorbed 10 per
cent of Zambia's national income, posing a major constraint to any economic growth and the government'sability to respond to the challenges of poverty reduc tion.  The consultative group meeting on Zambia last
July urged that work should begin immediately towards an early decision regarding Zambia's eligibility for
the Debt Relief Initiative and her government would like to reaffirm this call today.  The ability of Zambia,
like other LDCs, to properly address trade development issues was constrained by an overall lack of
information, skill and confidence to address issues with stronger regional economies, a key area for more
intensive and focused WTO support to both the government and the private sector in Zambia.  In
concluding she reiterated the need for the participation of the bilateral donors in the process of
implementation of the Integrated Response and assured her country's readiness to continue discussionswith the Zambian authorities and the six multilateral agencies in Lusaka.
169. The representative of the United States said that  his country had a programme this year totalling
about US$17.5 million of assistance through its aid programme to Zambia, much of which was geared
towards economic growth, such as the privatisation programme, especially assistance to the
telecommunications company and training for small and medium-scale enterpri ses; recently discussions
had taken place about possible assist ance in the trade policy area with Minister Hambayi, who was in
addition to being the Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry also the Chairman of the Council of the
Ministers of COMESA.  He had recently visited the US and other countries to discuss assistance to
COMESA to enhance its members' trade policies and education of officials and the public on the WTO
rules and on trade liberalization issues throughout the region. He expected to see certain proposals over the
next few months.  Within Zambia, against the background of good policies in the past, a certain publicbacklash against liberal trade po licies had recently been perceived which was a worrisome development.
He referred to proposals in the Integrated Response to assist with policy adaptation to various WTO
agreements to maximise the benefits of the new trading opportunities and he wondered what UNCTAD
and the authorities were proposing.  Some policy ad aptations were good, for example, to help combat
spurious trade complaints or restrictions which others imposed upon Zambia's exports, or assistance inhelping to diagnose non-tariff barriers facing Zambia in the region and to encourage its trading partners to
reduce such barriers.  However, he cautioned against focusing on the introduction of new restrictive
measures in Zambia, such as introducing a safeguard legislation where it did not exist before, or theimprovement of the use of countervailing duties and anti-dumping measures.  His authorities were
discussing this issue internally with the USAID Mission in Lusaka and planned to consult with the World
Bank and the German bilateral aid programme which was active in this particular area, or any other
development partner which would indicate its wish.WT/LDC/HL/M/1/Add.1
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170. The representative of Canada noted that  his country was providing approximately
US$10 million each year to Zambia in bilateral assistance and its activities focused mainly on basic
human needs, specifically in the education and health care sectors.  The key trade bottlenecks in
Zambia had been raised by the government and included the challenge high levels of illiteracy
presented to effective technology transfer, the importance of transportation for a landlocked country
and the need for capital market development to enhance financing for small and medium enterprises.His authorities were confident that weaknesses in understanding the impact of the Uruguay Round,
improving the capacity to implement the decisions of the Round and accessing market information
would be met in a more transparent and coordinated fashion.  He noted that Zambia's main service
export was tourism which had a large potential but faced constraints which Zambia had noted in its
needs assessment.  However, the Integrated Response did not seem to point to any planned activities
to assist in the marketing and development of the tourism industry.  Second, with respect to the
mining sector, it was noted that up to 90 per cent of output went unrecorded and up to 90 per cent offoreign exchange earnings were from copper exports. His authorities would encourage more attention
to this important sector in the Integrated Response.
171. The representative of Japan said that the needs assessment mentioned the fields of agriculture,
mining, water power, tourism and the manufacturing  industry as potential areas of development.
While the manufacturing industries showed a slight increase in direct investment, his authoritieswondered whether the manufacturing industry sector w ould be able to become an engine of economic
growth.  In for example the textiles industry, Zambian labour costs were relatively low in comparison
with other neighbouring countries.  However, in order to conform to the needs of importers of
Zambian products, much needed to be done in terms of amelioration of the quality and timing for
production, delivery, etc. This led to the need to strengthen the basic infrastructure of Zambia's exportindustry. His  government's priority area of assistan ce to Zambia was in the field of agriculture, health
and medical care and vocational training, the latter also in the area of trade and investment.
172. The representative of the World Bank said that the Bank's primary interest to giving
assistance in the trade area was the basics of civil service reform.  It was not effective to train people
to handle WTO matters when the structure of the civil service was such that these people were soonlost to the private sector.  The Bank's programme of supporting the government in the basics of civil
service reform  invited complementarity between other agencies and bilateral donor programmes to
train people in the specifics of administering various parts, particularly parts related to trade. Interest
had been expressed in matters of export finance and the Bank's interest in Zambia was in the basic
restructuring of the financial sector and the restructuring of several banks which were closed if notalready insolvent.  He emphasized the important role of the private sector in this domain and he noted
the Minister's report of the increasing dialogue between the government and the private sector.  The
interest of the government in bringing out the private sector was only one of three parts that were
necessary. Secondly, the private sector itself had to take an active interest in not only responding to
the government but in the development programme of the country.  Finally, and he addressed this to
the Bank, the other multilateral agencies and bilateral donors, many of the skills and capacities
mentioned in the needs assessment and the Integrated Response which related to export development,trade promotion, were most properly applied by the private sector and therefore should be provided to
the private sector; it was of less importance to train government officials in the capacities for finding
export markets, for meeting the requirements that products ought to meet in order to be sold in world
markets.  In concluding he complimented the progress made so far in Zambia and for the future he
emphasised two things:  first, capacity-building, and second, the appropriate division of the role of
government and the role of the private sector.