WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/72
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5258)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: French
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
MOROCCO
Statement byH.E. Mr.Driss Jettou
Minister ofCommerce, Industry andHandicrafts
Allow mefirstofalltoconvey toyouthegreatpleasure thatIandthemembers ofmydelegation
feelatbeing present heretotakepartinthefirstWTO Ministerial Conference. Ishould alsoliketo
congratulate youonyourelection asChairman andexpress mywarmest gratitude tothePrime Minister
ofSingapore forthefaultless organization oftheConference andforthehospitality andthewelcome
thatmydelegation andIhavereceived since wesetfootonthesoilofyourbeautiful country.
There wasatime, notsolongago,when ajourney toSingapore from other distant latitudes
wasquiteanundertaking. Nowadays, itcanbedonewithout theslightest difficulty. Thisshows that
globalization isnotahollow word. Inthisconnection, itisstriking thatourfirstConference istaking
place inacountry thatisasymbol ofbusiness dynamism andinaregion thatisalready apicture of
wealth andpower inthecoming century.
Itisalsosignificant thattheprocess which hasbrought usherereceived itsimpetus in
Punta delEste, tookonmaterial shape inMarrakesh andisnowready forafurther boost inSingapore.
Allthree arecities ofthesouth, andcities inwhich commerce hasalways thrived andexpanded.
SinceMarrakesh,wherewecelebratedthebirthoftheWTO,worldtradenowhasaninstitutional
framework inwhich itcandevelop andgrow, abiding bystable, agreed rules. Accordingly, ithas
become, more thaninthepast,thedriving force behind globalization andglobal economic integration.
Admittedly, trade continues togrow invalue andvolume atratesbeyond those ofworldwide
GDP growth, something thatistobewelcomed. Yetthisgrowth isunevenly distributed. Acloser
scrutiny shows thatalltheactors inthisevolution arenotinthesame boat. Whereas some regions
andcountries gainanincreasing share ofworld trade, others seetheirs stagnate, orevenfallback.
Anintensification ofthistrend brings marginalization, withalltherisksthatitentails fortheworld 's
balance.
Themarginalization ofsome countries, particularly theLDCs, andofentire regions suchas
Africa, means thatglobal economic integration isstilladistant goal.
Itisincumbent onustomake surethatthesubstance ofthisconcept istranslated intodeeds.
This, inmydelegation 'sview, isthefirstchallenge ourOrganization hastotakeupifitistomeet
theexpectations placed initatitsinception.
Inthisregard, theintegration oftheAfrican countries should beourprime concern. Africa
faces countless problems thatithasdifficulty incoping with. Forthisreason, serious consideration
should begiven toupgrading theeconomies ofthecountries ofthiscontinent, along withtargeted
measures inthecontext ofrenewed multilateral andbilateral cooperation.WT/MIN(96)/ST/72
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Inthiscontext, Morocco welcomes theintroduction ofanintegrated global planofaction for
theLDCs.
Withreference toregional agreements, mydelegation believes thattheyrepresent aspringboard
toworldwide liberalization. Todenythegeographical, historical andcultural factors onwhich they
areoften founded andtoseenothing butthepurely trade aspect cancreate tension andinstinctive
rejection ofthemultilateral system.
Theonlyway,inourview, toensure thatsuchagreements aremanaged within aglobal system
istomake surethattheliberalization embarked onatthemultilateral levelispursued andthatthebenefits
arebetter distributed. Itisaprocess ofinescapable convergence thatshould bemanaged rationally
andefficiently sothatitdoesnotleadtothemarginalization ofcountries which stillverymuch depend
onpreferential agreements.
Since itsinception, theWTO hascertainly made great headway intheimplementation ofthe
commitments entered intoandintheestablishment andfunctioning ofitsmonitoring anddispute
settlement mechanism.
InMarrakesh, weagreed toholdnegotiations inanumber offields, buttheirfortunes have
differed. Thefactthatsome havenotbeencompleted within theprescribed time-frame andthatothers
havebeenbrought through toaconclusion without being equal totheobjectives should command our
attention. Their failure orsemi-failure hassomewhat weakened thesystem.
Wehavealsocommitted ourselves toembarking onnegotiations incertain sectors andreviewing
theprovisions ofseveral agreements.
Thisveryambitious programme must berespected inorder toconsolidate liberalization,
particularly intheagricultural sector, where wepress forthefullimplementation ofcommitments.
Foritspart,itshould beemphasized thatMorocco hasalready metallofitsobligations.
WiththeMarrakesh Agreements, theworld economy entered theageofglobalization. Quite
obviously, goods arebeing manufactured, financed anddistributed more andmore byaninternational,
notnational, process. Border measures havethuslosttheirimportance because ofthedevelopment
ofinternational capital markets andbusiness activity. Thisstepped-up globalization emphasizes the
needforcooperation among countries soastostrengthen thecoherence oftheworld economy.
Inthiscontext, weregret tofindthatthequestion ofcoherence, which wasoneofthemain
affirmations oftheMarrakesh Conference, isstillonlyapious wish. Itistherefore essential forefforts
tobedeployed tobuild uptheframework toensure coherence ineconomic policymaking.
Werecognize thatoneofthelessons now, attheclose ofthecentury, hasbeenthegrowing
awareness oftheclose linksbetween foreign direct investment andincreased trade flows. Thespread
ofbilateral andregional agreements inthisfield, which hasledtoaspectacular riseindirect foreign
investment flows, callsforanexamination ofthisissue.
Morocco therefore endorses theideathattheWTO should decide toexamine thematter, in
cooperation withUNCTAD, bearing inmind, ofcourse, thecomplementarity between trade and
investment.
Astowhathasbeencalled the"social clause", Morocco considers thatanyconsensus onthis
issue should takedueaccount ofthefollowing elements:WT/MIN(96)/ST/72
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(1) Observance ofinternationally recognized labour standards;
(2) thecompetence oftheILOinpromoting these standards;
(3) non-recourse toprotectionist measures toenforce those standards.
Aconsequence oftrade liberalization fostered bythedevelopment ofinformation and
communicationhasbeentheemergenceofaworldproductionanddistributionsysteminwhichenterprises
playafundamental role. Itisthissystem thatshould beregulated, notably byadopting bothnational
andinternational rules oncompetition tocurbanypotential pernicious effects.
Itcanbeseenthatthepathtoagenuinely openandequitable world isstilllongandstillstrewn
withobstacles. Thetaskisnonetheless exhilarating, since wemustallcontribute, atthedawn ofthe
thirdmillennium, tobuilding aworld thatismore balanced andmore stable, thatisfreeandprosperous
butnotuniform, aworld inwhich allitsrichdiversity canflourish.