FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS/82
27October 1997
"ANEW PARTNERSHIP AGAINST MARGINALIZATION"
Attached isthespeech given byMr.Renato Ruggiero, Director-General oftheWorld Trade
Organization, today (27October), attheHigh-Level Meeting ontheIntegrated Initiatives forLeast-
Developed Countries 'Trade Development, inGeneva.
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Mr.Chairman, Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies andgentlemen:
Thismeeting responds toacallbyWTO Ministers attheir Conference inSingapore last
December. Itisanenormously important meeting. Itisimportant because forthefirsttimeweare
bringing alltheenergy ofthemultilateral system tobearontheproblem ofeconomic marginalization.
Itisimportant because without thefullintegration oftheleast-developed countries wecannever have
atruly'global 'trading system. Anditisimportant because itrepresents atangible signoftheextent
towhich your countries have embraced openness, integration andtrade asthekeystoeconomic
development.
Thegoalweareallworking towards isafullpartnership oftoday'sleast-developed countries
intheglobal economy anditsopportunities. Wewillnotmake progress towards thatobjective with
stirring speeches andfinewords. Overthenexttwodays, wemustproduce meaningful results -results
thatwillbeofrealandpractical significance totheleast-developed countries.
There arethreemainwaysinwhich thismeeting should produce concrete andpractical results:
first, byopening upnewmarket access opportunities forleast-developed country exports; second,
bydesigning anintegrated approach tobuilding tradecapacity which reflects therealneeds oftheleast-
developedcountriesthemselves;andthird,byusingnewtechnologytoopenawindowofnewopportunity
between North andSouth -awindow through which information, knowledge andideascanflowfreely
andproductively. Icanassure thedelegations fromthese countries whoareheretoday thattheWTO
iscompletely committed tothistask.
Idon'twanttounderestimate thescale oftheproblems facing yourcountries. Above allis
theproblem ofpoverty, anditscrippling effects onallaspects oftheexistence ofmillions ofpeople
-ontheirnutrition, theirhealth, oninfant mortality andlifeexpectancy, ontheirprospects toeducate
themselves andtheirchildren -inevery respect thefactsareunacceptable. With 10percent ofthe
world 'spopulation, theleast-developed countries account together forbarely one-half ofonepercent
ofworld trade. Their share ofinternational investment isstillinsignificant, andtheiraccess tokey
modern technologies totally inadequate -inagriculture, inmanufacturing, incommunications, in
practically every areaofeconomic activity.
Butifthechallenges areimmense, wenowseesigns thatthings arechanging inapositive
direction andthatnewopportunities areopening up.Around theworld, wehaveseeninthepasttwenty
years many developing countries break away successfully from conditions ofdebilitating poverty to
share inthegrowth andprosperity thathavebeengenerated intheworld economy. TheWorld Bank,
theIMF, UNDP, UNCTAD -allofthemajor international economic institutions paint astrikingly
similar picture ofimprovements, oftendramatic, intheeconomic performance ofmany least-developed
countries overthepastfewyears. Asreported byUNCTAD, more thanhalfoftheleast-developed
countries haveimproved theireconomic performance inthemid-1990s. Taken asagroup, theleast-
developed countries grew ataround 5percentin1995 and1996, upfrom anaverage of3percent
inthefirsthalfofthe1990s andonly2percentinthe1980s.
More important, thisimpressive record ofeconomic growth ishaving arealimpact onthe
everyday livesofpeople. Forexample, among agroup ofsometwenty developing countries undertaking
structural reform, theIMFhasfound thataverage spending oneducation hasincreased by5percent
inrealterms -orbymorethan2percentonapercapita basis. Realexpenditure onhealth hasincreased
by7.5percentperyear. Illiteracy rateshavedeclined by3percentperyear, while primary and
secondary school enrolment hasgrown byover1percentperyear. Access tohealth careimproved
byalmost tenpercentperyear; access tosafewater improved by5percentperyear.
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AndUNDP hasreported thatbytheendofthiscentury -onlythree years away -some 3to
4billion oftheworld 'speople willhaveexperienced substantial improvements intheirstandard of
living, andabout 4to5billion willhaveaccess tobasiceducation andhealth care. These gains, UNDP
notes, make eradicating poverty notsome distant idealbutatruepossibility.
These positive trends reflect thedetermination ofmany countries toembrace andinstitute
sustained economic reforms asthebestavailable pathtorealimprovements fortheirpeople. Their
efforts richly deserve thesupport oftheinternational community. Atthismeeting, wehave an
opportunity toshow thattheWTO, working withtheother intergovernmental agencies involved, can
make asignificant contribution.
Letmeoutline alittlemorefullythenature ofthiscontribution. First, market access. Increased
market access fortheleast-developed countries 'exports isessential ifweareserious about improving
thetrading opportunities ofthese countries. AttheG-7Summit Meeting inLyon lastyear, Imade
aproposal toremove alltariffs andimport quotas onimports from least-developed countries -and
Itakethisopportunity toreiterate thatproposal.
ThisMeeting provides anopportunity forWTO Members toannounce stepstheywillbetaking,
onanautonomous basis, toimprove market access forproducts ofexport interest toleast-developed
countries. Ihavebeenencouraged tolearnoverthepastfewmonths thatanumber ofWTO Members
-including some ofthemaintrading partners oftheleast-developed countries -areexamining seriously
whatstepstheycantaketoreduce restrictions onLDC exports, toextend existing preference schemes,
particularly inareas suchastextiles andagriculture; tosimplify drastically theconditions attached
tothem; and,inthecaseofsome developing country Members, tointroduce entirely newpreferences
infavour ofthese countries 'exports.
Iapplaud theseinitiatives, andIurgeallWTO Members tocontinue toreflect onwhatactions
theycantakeinthefuture inthisregard. Thisisoneoftheprincipal ways inwhich thismeeting will
beseentoproduce notjustwords butdeeds. Theneeds oftheleast-developed countries foropenand
predictable access tooverseas export markets willonlyincrease aspolicy reforms andcapacity-building
athome enhance theirproductivity, expand theireconomic diversification, andresult inhigher sustained
realgrowth rates. Ifinvestors aretorespond effectively totheefforts ofboththeleast-developed
countries themselves andtheinternational community toimprove supply-side conditions, theymust
bereassured early onthatattractive andstable market opportunities existwhich warrant long-term
investment.
Thesecond major areaforaction atthisMeeting istoaddress supply-side constraints inthe
tradeable goods sectors oftheleast-developed countries 'economies, andhelpimprove theircapacity
totrade. Over thepastsixmonths theWTO Secretariat hasworked closely withitscolleagues inthe
UNCTAD andITC, UNDP, theWorld Bank andtheIMF, onthree related projects.
Wehaveputtogether forthefirsttimeaninventory oftechnical assistance andcooperation
activities thatexisttosupport thetrade oftheleast-developed countries. Thecoreofthis
inventory istheactivities ofthesixagencies themselves, andwiththecooperation ofother
intergovernmental organisations andoftheOECD Secretariat wehavebegun tobroaden the
project tocreate agenuinely newandcomprehensive management toolfortrade-related technical
assistance andcooperation. Ibelieve theresults, which arepresented inthebackground
documentation forthisMeeting, willallow theleast-developed countries toensure thatthe
technical support theyarereceiving toexpand theirtrade istruly demand-driven andmeets
theirneeds effectively. Itwillallow these countries 'development partners todesign their
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assistance programmes more efficiently, infullknowledge oftherange ofcomplementary
activities thatareinplace.
Furthermore, wehavecreated anewIntegrated Framework fordesigning technical assistance
andcapacity-building inleast-developed countries inthespecific areaoftrade. Atthecentre
liesthegovernment ofeachleast-developed country; theyareinthedriver 'sseat,andalarge
partofthesuccess ofthisinitiative willdepend uponthesense ofownership andcommitment
theybring totheendeavour. ThenewFramework, which thisMeeting willbeinvited to
endorse, willlinktogether theresource-bases ofthesixagencies, allowing them tointegrate
theirefforts tomeetthespecific needs ofindividual least-developed countries. Thepotential
oftheFramework is,however, much broader thanthat. Itcanhelpincrease thebenefits that
theleast-developed countries derive fromtrade-related support provided bytheirdevelopment
partners, andIbelieve thatbyincreasing transparency andaccountability itwillactasacatalyst
inmobilizing additional resources fromtheinternational community forthese countries 'trade
development.
Wewillpresent forthefirsttimetoday andtomorrow theresults ofourapplication ofthenew
Integrated approach toapilotgroup oftwelve least-developed countries. Hereisanexample
ofoneofthepractical results weintend toachieve atthisMeeting -theopening ofanewdoor
towardsleast-developedcountries.Theresultswillbepresentedbytheleast-developedcountries
themselves, ataseries of"Roundtable" meetings. They represent many months ofintensive
work byindividual least-developed countries andallsixagencies involved inthisproject. By
demonstrating ourcommitment totheexercise, wehopetocreate astrong multiplier effect,
attracting other multilateral andregional intergovernmental organisations, themain trading
partners oftheleast-developed countries, andtheprivate sector tocontribute theirresources
andexperience alsotothiseffort.
Letmeemphasize thatforthepurposes ofthiseffort, theHigh-Level Meeting should be
considered onlyastepalong theway. Inaddition tothetwelve least-developed countries that
willbefeatured atcountry-specific roundtables overthenexttwodays, 20otherleast-developed
countries haveaccepted ourinvitation toparticipate intheexercise andwewillwork hardwith
them toprepare theground fortheirowncountry roundtables inthemonths ahead.
Thethirdmajor areaofaction isanexciting newdeparture forusintheWTO. Thisisto
provide least-developed countries -astheythemselves haveasked -withbetter access totheglobal
information infrastructure. Thenewinformation technologies which weareexploiting inpartnership
withourfriends intheWorld Bank provide agateway todevelopment, apathwhich canprovide the
developing world withthemostimportant resource forraising living standards -knowledge. Through
knowledge wecanbetter educate ouryoung andbetter careforoursick.Itisknowledge thatmakes
allofusbetter managers, better workers, better citizens.
Iurgeofallofyoutoexplore ourCyber-Cafe, setupnextdoorintheSalle dePasPerdus,
soyoucanseeatfirsthandhowwearemaking useofthesenewtechnologies toaiddeveloping countries
intheirefforts tobring themselves intothemainstream oftheglobal trading system. Ourwebsite
offers officials indeveloping countries theability toaccess, often forthefirsttime, WTO documents
which arevitaltotheirunderstanding ofourrules. Ourjointinteractive sitewiththeWorld Bankallows
trade officials tocontinue, through cyberspace, thetraining which theybegan hereinourtechnical
cooperation training seminars.
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Butthisaccess toknowledge about thetrading system isbynomeans limited tothose with
pastexperienceofWTOtrainingseminarshereinGeneva.Ournewsystemenableseventhoseunfamiliar
withinternational trade, orcomputers forthatmatter, toaccess thebasic information thatiscritical
topolicy making orbusiness planning. Through theuseofon-line forums, officials canconsult the
WTO andWorld Bank secretariats ontrade matters andlearn about emerging developments inthe
trading system.
Wewillbeholding several demonstrations ofthisforum throughout thenexttwodays, and
I'msureyouwillfindthese demonstrations tobeofgreatinterest. Thismonth, WTO secretariat staff
wenttofourAfrican countries, providing government officials there withcomputers, equipment and
theknow-how theyneedtoaccess theinformation thatisavailable onourwebsite.
Later thisyearwewillvisitfourmore countries anddothesame. Ourgoalisto"wire" all
ofourleast-developed members bynextyear, sothattheycantakefulladvantage oftheinformation
revolution thatisliberating suchpowerful forces forintegration andgrowth.
Letmeconclude byinviting youtolooktothefuture withrenewed hope. Finding asolution
totheproblem ofeconomic marginalization isashared responsibility. Itisclear thatfortheleast-
developed countries itrequires pursuing sound domestic economic policies andaddressing questions
ofgovernance inapositive way. Theaccess toinformation andassistance thatnewtechnology makes
possible should behelpful inthiseffort. Itshould beequally clearthatintheWTO youhaveatotally
committed partner inreaching thesesolutions andinachieving youreconomic potential. Iamconfident
thattheresults ofthismeeting willliveuptoallourexpectations thattrade-andthemultilateral trading
system -candeliver concrete results tothosecountries which areatpresent mostinneedofourcollective
support, butwhich Iardently hope willbecounted among themost dynamic trading nations ofthe
21stcentury.
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