RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/WGTDF/M/5
23 April 2003
(03-2165)
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance
REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 28 MARCH 2003
1. The Working Group held its fifth meeting on 28 March 2003 under the Chairmanship of
Ambassador Hernando José Gómez (Colombia).  Th e Working Group adopted the Agenda contained
in WTO/AIR/2052.
2. The Chairman said that, as proposed in the agenda, discussion at the meeting should focus on
the presentation of recent submissions in the context of the work programme for 2002, and on
progress made in the preparation of the Group's Annua l Report to the General Council. In this regard,
he invited delegations to consider the revised list of themes that had been circulated in
document JOB(03)/54 which reflected the result of his informal consultation held on 13 February.  He
expressed the hope that sufficient progress could be made during the meeting so that agreement couldbe reached on using the list of themes as a basis for drafting a Report to the General Council at the
Group's meeting in June.
A. W
ORK PROGRAMME FOR 2002
1. The relationship between the trade and financial systems
(a) Financial Architecture and Trade
3. The Chairman referred to the written communication which had been submitted for the last
meeting by Kenya on behalf of the African Group in relation to Item I.A of the Work Programme
(WT/WGTDF/W/16). At that time, due to its hea vy involvement in other WTO meetings, Kenya had
been unable to present this communication. Morocco, which was now the coordinator of the African
Group, had accepted to make a brief oral presentation at the present meeting.  The Chairman hoped
that African Group's contribution would encourage other Members to submit their own
communications. He viewed this contribution as particularly important since Members had sought
clarification of the African Group's views and positions.
4. The representative of Morocco presented a brief summary of WT/WGTDF/W/16, which
aimed to (i) highlight the salient features of the trade, debt and finance linkage viewed from an
African perspective;  (ii) underline the WTO’s competence and mandate in this area;  and (iii) make a
number of recommendations on how best to address proposals by the African Group in the future.Paragraph 36 of the Doha Declaration was only one of the many recognitions of the linkages between
trade, debt and finance.  Other initiatives, such as the NEPAD and the UN Resolution 57/240, calling
on international institutions to improve international cooperation on development issues, were other
areas of work.  He stressed the African Group's concern regarding the marginalization of LDCs, and
said that the paper made a number of proposals to address this issue (e.g., increase market access anddevelopment aid, multilateral dialogue on commodities markets). While pointing to the limits of the
HIPC Initiative – both in terms of eligibility of countries as well as of the amounts awarded to date –
he stressed that several WTO Articles were relevant to the issue of trade, debt and finance (e.g.,
Part IV of the GATT on development, the GATS, the Agreement on Agriculture, Article XVIII:B of
the GATT).  In conclusion, he invited Members, when carrying out the Working Group's mandate, toexamine the WTO articles that were relevant to debt and financial matters, the ways and means byWT/WGTDF/M/5
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which African countries could diversify away from commodity-based trade and production, as well as
the manner in which the Working Group could respond to the Monterrey Consensus.
5. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation regarded the African
Group's contribution as constructive and he highlighted points of common interest to the EC. His
delegation shared the general conclusion that the link between trade, debt and finance was complex
and that it implied the joint participation of the WTO and Bretton-Woods institutions.  He also agreed
with the African Group that market access was important, but that it should be complemented by
supply-side reforms that would help interested countries to benefit from new market opportunities.
Regarding the HIPC Initiative, he noted that countries having reached completion point enjoyed the
best economic performance among all potentially eligible countries.  This seemed to demonstrate the
complementarity between trade and internal reforms. His delegation also agreed with UNCTAD's
view that the integration of poor countries into world trade was only one aspect of developmentproblems and he emphasized that the WTO's role in solving developmental issues should not be
overestimated.
6. He then commented on specific points of the paper, including the need to implement and
synchronize domestic policies that would help African countries reap the benefits of increased market
access (monetary, fiscal, customs and sectoral policies).  He emphasized the need for developingcountries to attract long-term investment flows to match the saving-investment gap and reiterated that
the WTO could not solve all problems, in particular those of financial origin, and that market access
was only one of the problems that existed.
7. The Chairman said that, while the WTO could not solve all problems, its rules and disciplines
could usefully complement policies at domestic level.
8. The representative of Canada agreed with the African Group's view that identification of the
WTO provisions relevant to trade, debt and finance was part of the Working Group's mandate.
However, their detailed examination with a view to changing them was often already under review in
the relevant WTO committees (e.g., the Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions). Regarding
ways to diversify exports, he noted the positive statements about the NEPAD Initiative, an initiativewhich he regarded as helping Africa in its efforts to integrate into the global economy.  In his view,
greater openness to trade and investment increased the capacity of developing countries to respond to
demand in world markets.  The current WTO negotiations offered an opportunity to use trade
liberalization to further diversify developing countries' economies. With respect to international
commodity prices, he said that the Working Group should examine the work that had been done in
this area by the IMF and World Bank in order to decide what contribution the WTO could make. He
said that his delegation did not rule out that the Working Group could be used – from the WTO side –to monitor the outcome of the Monterrey Conference, but argued that the Consensus covered a much
broader range of issues, some of which were beyond the WTO's remit. He expressed concern about
the timeframe and implications for resources.  Ca nada was interested in examining the correlation
between trade flows, capital account liberalization and exchange rate volatility, in particular in
countries enforcing exchange controls.
9. The representative of India said that all the issues highlighted in the African Group's paper
were relevant to the Working Group's mandate. For example, the issue of commodity prices was
clearly within the competence of the WTO. Her delegation nevertheless sought clarification regarding
the recommendation that the Working Group monitor the Monterrey Consensus.  India felt that
although this might be too broad a task for the Working Group it was justified to examine to whatextent the Group would be competent.
10. The representative of Japan congratulated the African Group for its contribution to the
discussion. He shared the EC's view on the need to address the supply-side constraint and, in doing so,
the prominent role of foreign direct investment.  Japan sought clarification on how the WTO couldWT/WGTDF/M/5
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contribute to the diversification of exports of poor countries.  Regarding the Monterrey Consensus, he
said that implementation and monitoring was the responsibility of each signatory, not of the WTO.  At
best, the WTO could associate itself with the United  Nations to examine certain implications of the
Consensus.  With respect to the issue of capital  account liberalization, Japan recalled that the WTO
Committee on Trade in Financial Services continued to cooperate with the IMF on these topics, andthat existing exchanges of views might best be deepened with other responsible international
organizations.
11. The representative of the United States recognized the concerns expressed in the African
Group paper and in particular those regarding its ability to cope with the multilateral trading system.
However, she emphasized the number of bilateral and multilateral initiatives aimed at improving trade
opportunities and activities for Members, while at the same time noting, like Canada, that most of the
multilateral ones were handled in other competent WTO bodies. For example, the issue ofdiversification of trade was currently being addressed in the Committee on Trade and Development.
At the same time, the WTO had encouraged the Bretton-Woods institutions to look at the supply-side
needs of developing countries, and her delegation hoped that the reforms underway were progressing.
On the effect of trade on debt, she noted that there were issues that were not necessarily attributable to
trade, such as the overall macro-economic relationship between debt and current account imbalances,which should be dealt with elsewhere. Therefore, the primary issue within the Working Group was to
identify whether the topics raised by the African Group's paper fell within the remit of the WTO, and
whether it was relevant to the competence of the Working Group.
12. For several of the issues identified in the African Group's paper and which might be relevant
to the WTO, she noted that there was already a "home" within the WTO for dealing with thesespecific areas (e.g., capital account liberalization in the Committee on Trade in Financial Services).
Therefore, her delegation was concerned that the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance might
take on board areas that were being taken into consideration rigorously elsewhere.  The check-list of
issues should therefore be carefully examined in order to see what was relevant to the competence of
the Working Group and what might lead to redunda ncy with other Groups. At the same time, her
delegation was ready to agree that the Working Group could identify issues that would otherwise fall
under the competence of other groups and have the role of raising the awareness of such groups to
those issues. Concerning the UN Conference on Financing for Development, she understood that the
Committee on Trade and Development had some coordinating role with the Conference, although she
recognized that the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance did not exist at that time. This topic
showed the potential for overlap and need for coordination between issues dealt with by the Working
Group and other competent bodies in the WTO.
13. The Chairman said that the current exercise wa s being carried out precisely to identify the
areas where the Working Group could generate some value added. On the other hand, the Group
should not be made redundant or repetitive. This was why the Group needed to focus its discussion on
the areas mandated by Ministers, and subsequently advise Ministers on the relevance of each
individual topic identified by the Working Group.
14. The representative of Argentina considered many of the points made in the African Group
paper relevant to the Working Group. What had become clear throughout the proceedings of the
Group was that trade policies played a very important role in countries' development strategies,
economic growth and indebtedness. This required that developing countries could count on dynamic
export sectors, one of the reasons why the Working Group had been established. This was whyArgentina had consistently stressed the need for finding global and local solutions through trade,
whether it was to increase exports or to relieve and overcome the problem of debt, through an increase
in access to markets for developing countries' and least-developed countries' exports.
15. In general, a dynamic export sector was the only way by which highly indebted countries
could reduce their heavy debt burden. One example was the situation faced by Latin American andWT/WGTDF/M/5
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Caribbean countries. The fall of growth and infl ows of net capital to the region had substantially
reduced available sources for foreign debt servicing. 1998 was the last year in which the region had
received net positive transfer of resources.  Since then, disbursements had dropped, interest payments
had increased, and net transfers of capital had become negative. The problem of developing countries'
indebtedness affected its capacity to benefit from the multilateral trading system. A country's abilityto service foreign debt clearly depended upon its trading balance. Because of the deterioration in
terms of trade and stagnation of export markets, which was in part due to market access restrictions,
difficulties in paying debts increased, which in turn provoked financial difficulties and monetary
disturbances which had a negative impact on growth and development in the economies of these
countries. The relationship between foreign debt and trade was therefore of paramount importance to
the Working Group. An examination of this issue highlighted that despite the efforts made and the
programmes that had been designed to reduce the debt of developing countries the situation had notimproved. Argentina reiterated that the main contri bution the WTO make to alleviate the situation of
indebted countries was therefore to increase access to markets in areas of interest to indebted
countries.  This was the central issue within the Group's Work Programme.
16. He then cited existing provisions of the Marrakesh Agreements relating to trade, debt and
finance, including Articles XII, XVIII(b), XXXVIII of the GATT, Article XII of the GATS and theUnderstanding on the Interpretation of Article XVIII of the GATT regarding balance-of-payments.
All these measures were restrictive to trade and were directed at controlling the inflow of imports, and
not at generating the foreign exchange needed for debt servicing purposes. The measures were not
sufficient to overcome the overall problem of debt. Bearing in mind that for highly indebted
developing countries, exports were the main source for generating foreign currency and foraccumulating reserves, it was essential that these countries could benefit from better access to export
markets where they had a comparative advantage, especially to developed countries' markets which in
most cases were their main creditors. Such an increase in exports was even more necessary for
countries whose indebtedness had reached critical level. Given that exports of LDCs were composed
mainly of primary materials, industrial materials or agro-industrial products subject to non-tariffbarriers and above-average tariffs, it was indispensable to have measures which would allow greater
access to markets for those products. The multilateral trading system currently lacked the proper
machinery through which one could expand access to markets for developing countries and HIPCs.
For this reason, the Working Group could make a significant contribution to the solution of this
problem through a more careful analysis of the ways and means – and the instruments or tools –
which would need to be given to the multilateral trad ing system to enable highly indebted countries to
increase their exports in a way which was proportionate to their level of indebtedness. In conclusion,the examination of the way in which the multilateral trading system could contribute to a lasting
solution to the problems of highly indebted countries was an essential cornerstone of the mandate
given to the Working Group by Ministers in Doha. The Working Group should therefore recommend
to the Fifth Ministerial Conference possible actions and measures regarding market access which
might be adopted in the WTO so that developing countries and LDCs with high debt levels couldovercome this critical situation.
1
17. Referring to paragraphs 7 and 15 of the African Group's paper, the representative of Nigeria,
said that his delegation supported the themes which highlighted the need for greater market access,
provision of adequate development finance, addressing supply-side constraints and encouraging
multilateral dialogue on primary products as a way to assist Africa in overcoming its problems.  Healso supported the recommendation made in paragraph 15, but nevertheless encouraged that these
issues be meaningfully addressed in cooperation with other relevant multilateral institutions. The
WTO had a role to play, but it had to work more closely with the IMF and the World Bank in order to
come up with concrete solutions to these problems.
                                                     
1 At the request of Argentina, the full text of the statement was subsequently circulated in
WT/WGTDF/W/20.WT/WGTDF/M/5
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18. The representative of Chile agreed with the idea that Africa should not be isolated in the trade
liberalization exercise. As a general point of discussion, she wondered whether in addition to
identifying areas for further discussion among the Working Group, the Group should not focus at this
stage on what should be the concrete outcome of these discussions:  i.e., political declarations,
statements to other WTO groups and committees, review and analysis of  certain topics. A clear viewof where the Group was going and what the Group would be submitting to Ministers was needed.
19. In replying to delegations' comments and questions, the representative of Morocco made a
number of general observations.  He said that the subjects being examined in the Working Group
pertaining to the relationship between trade, debt  and finance were areas that were interdependent.
Trade was a vector for development while debt was a constraint on development.  All these questions
were to some extent interactive. In their commen ts, delegations had generally recognized the points
made in the African Group's paper i.e. the continued reliance of LDCs on exports of commoditieswhich worked as a poverty trap for these countries;   the linkage between the issue of debt in the
African continent and that of market access (although measures easing access to markets had recently
been taken by trading partners, some technical barriers to trade remained);  supply-side constraints
preventing these countries from responding to market opportunities. As far as recommendations were
concerned, in particular those pertaining to the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development,many aspects of these recommendations and the diagnosis made during the Conference fell within the
mandate of the Working Group and should at least be discussed.
(b) Trade Policy and Financial Stability
20. The representative of the OECD introduced its paper on "HIPC and Trade Policy Reform:
Some Early Observations" (WT/WGTDF/W/19) and said that work on this topic had been undertaken
under the auspices of the OECD Trade Committee, and had aimed at investigating the role that trade
policy could play in contributing to financial stability in developing countries. He briefly commented
on the design of the paper, explaining that the HIPC Initiative had only been in operation since 1996
and that the results of the study were still preliminary due to the short data period involved. Eligibility
for HIPC relief depended in part on the presentation of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP),which did not focus per se  on trade policy reform, but on efforts that were underway to integrate such
policies into country strategies. The findings of th e paper were that out of the 42 HIPCs, only six
countries had reached the "completion point", allowing for full relief, by the end of 2002. Statistics
showed that general economic performance in the "c ompletion point" countries in terms of GDP per
capita, export growth, and FDI had been better th an in the "decision point" countries, i.e. those
countries that were eligible for only partial HIPC assistance. Also, countries which had reached the
"completion point" had more open trade policies than "decision point" countries. In conclusion, hesuggested that the causality between good economic pe rformance and eligibility to full debt relief at
the completion point remained unclear:  was the HIPC providing the incentives to pursue virtuous
policies, or was it the other way around, i.e. countries that pursued good policies naturally found it
easier to qualify for HIPC relief?  Longer data  series were needed to answer this question.
21. The Chairman commented that the interface between good external and internal policies
might have been a positive factor in the economic recovery of these countries.
22.  The representative of Japan said that the OECD paper contained several suggestions that
were relevant to the Group's work. Exports alone were not sufficient for growth and poverty
alleviation. As suggested in paragraphs 7 and 8 of the paper, trade policy reform by the countries
themselves were crucial in improving resource allocation and attracting foreign direct investment(FDI). Paragraph 14 had suggested that for countrie s experiencing strong inflows of FDI there could
be a related increase in imports of capital goods, although this needed further reflection.  Box I
showed the importance of reforming trade and tr ade-related policies in HIPC countries, such as
streamlining customs procedures, preventing corruption of public officials, facilitating FDI and so on.
These recommendations were close to those implied by the Singapore issues, which gave the WTO anWT/WGTDF/M/5
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additional argument in deepening discussions on these matters. In this context, he asked the OECD for
further information regarding the role of trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement,
and investment and competition policies, in improving the performance of HIPC countries and
facilitating the implementation of their programmes. He also asked whether the OECD had any
expectations on further discussing the role of Singapore issues in the WTO, and what its role was inthe performance of developing countries in general
23. The representative of Morocco raised a question regarding the criteria for passage from the
decision to the completion point (time limits, economic performance).
24. The representative of the United States said that on HIPC and trade policy reform the main
picture came from page 7, paragraph 13 of the OECD paper, which indicated the kind of policies to be
put in place in order to have successful implementation of poverty reduction strategies. Nonetheless,
the HIPC was not in the WTO's domain. However, to the extent that it highlighted what it wasnecessary to do in the context of trade, the Group was pleased to be informed of the OECD findings.
The US view about the linkage between trade, debt and finance was that more open markets at the
border, combined with pro-competitive domestic refo rms, helped ensure that foreign capital inflows
contributed to the greatest extent possible to economic development. Debt servicing was more easily
accomplished, the likelihood of financial disturbances was reduced, and the necessary balance-of-payments adjustments were more easily achieved. More specifically, trade liberalization and more
open markets presented an opportunity of sustained, rapid economic growth and development. In
order to preserve the likelihood of positive economic outcomes, trade liberalization should be
complemented by pro-competitive, domestic macroeconomic, structural and institutional reforms.
When such reforms were combined with openness at the border, domestic investment wasencouraged, and the likelihood increased that new investment (whether domestic or foreign sources)
would be more efficiently allocated and would result in more diversified domestic production. The
benefits of trade liberalization, combined with these pro-competitive domestic reforms could be
enhanced by sound macroeconomic policies at the domestic level. When international borrowing or
substantial net capital inflows took place in circumstances of open markets and sound domesticmacroeconomic policies, they were more likely to contribute to sustained economic development and
a sustainable debt service position.
25. Some of the analysis contained in the OECD paper further strengthened the call for countries
to remove their domestic trade barriers. The paper indicated that those countries that had started
implementing domestic trade policy reforms outperformed countries that had not. HIPC countries
reaching the completion point by end-2002 outperfor med the HIPC countries that had only reached
the decision point by then, with respect to the five economic indicators described by the OECD.Similarly, HIPC countries reaching the decision point outperformed countries that had not yet reached
the decision point at all. The important message that should come out of this paper was that, despite
flaws and lack of long data series, it was robust enough to recommend that the good policies
implemented by HIPC countries having reached the completion points be implemented elsewhere. It
was important for the Working Group to be informed  of mechanisms within the WTO or elsewhere
that would help developing countries diversify their exports, or of any other complementary measures
that helped build a positive context in trade poli cy. Although Argentina had referred to tools and
mechanisms, one must remain aware of what alread y existed within the remit of each institution. If
delegations were more informed of these tools, policy-makers would then be more able to factor them
into reforms that were creating the kind of environment of growth that developing countries werelooking for.
26. With respect to the issue of diversification, he r delegation was of the view that this was more
than a question of commodities and manufacturing. Trade in services in developing countries had an
enormous potential for development in developing countries, and would greatly help these countries
diversify their production.WT/WGTDF/M/5
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27. The representative of the European Communities focused on two aspects of the OECD paper.
First, the preliminary results of the HIPC Initiati ve were encouraging. The OECD clearly mentioned
that countries that had followed the recommended strategies had performed better than others.  He
expected a further improvement of this trend in the future.  Second, the paper identified two issues
where the WTO might assist in improving the perfor mance of developing countries. Among the topics
identified by the OECD were the importance of attracting FDI and making good use of scarce capital
resources, as well as structural weaknesses created by lack of transparency and integrity of
government officials, and also the problems raised by anti-competitive domestic policy practices.  The
WTO might therefore question whether, if the WTO framework regulating these practices existed and
if it as competent to do so, would it contribute to helping reduce these weaknesses at national and
international level.  For example, in addressing the inability of the poorest countries in attracting
foreign investment, it was important to bring about greater transparency by public officials at theborder, greater trade facilitation, proper handling of government procurement procedures, and by
eradicating anti-competitive practices that affected the contestability of markets. Having WTO
frameworks in these areas would therefore be relevant and complementary to efforts produced under
the HIPC Initiative.
28. The representative of Nigeria wondered whether the HIPC Initiative had really reduced the
levels of debt and poverty of poor countries, whether it really had improved their overall trade
performance, and whether the structural adjustment programmes adopted by the eligible countries had
had any influence on the HIPC programme.
29. The representative of India congratulated the OECD for its informative paper. She queried the
information provided in the Annex which led to an unclear impression regarding the growth of GDP
during the period concerned. She noted the EC's focus on Singapore issues, but her delegation did not
regard the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance – nor the WTO as a whole – as the proper
forum in which to deal with them.
30. The representative of Brazil noted that the requirement of the HIPC Initiative was to adopt a
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and establish a record of macroeconomic stability and reforms. It
was clear that poverty reduction was at the centre of the Initiative. At the same time, the OECD paper
noted the highly concentrated export base (on commodities) which made them vulnerable to changes
in world prices. So, there was contradiction between, on the one hand, the requirement for HIPCs to
open up their economies as part of the required reforms and, on the other, the wide fluctuations of
world prices linked to barriers to trade and world subsidies, all of which left little opportunity for poor
farmers in HIPC eligible countries to improve their situation. Therefore the trade dimension prevented
HIPC eligible countries to meet the poverty reduction criteria to qualify for HIPC relief.
31. Referring to Box 1 of the OECD paper, the representative of Canada pointed out that customs
procedures were often a problem generated by government authorities. Looking forward, he hoped
that the Working Group would be kept informed of future developments and studies concerning the
relationship between trade policy and the HIPC Initiative, whether from the OECD or from other
organizations carrying out similar data analysis.
32. The representative of the World Bank noted that the HIPC programme was only one element
of what was needed globally in terms of tacking poverty. Market access was also crucial in helping
those HIPC countries to diversify their economies, to add value to their exports and to trade their way
out of poverty. This was why the Bank was also interested in this Programme. The Bank welcomed
the OECD paper and the messages it conveyed regarding the role of trade policy in poverty reduction.It provided a fairly accurate picture of where the HIPC Initiative currently stood. He said that as at
September 2002, 38 countries had been identified as being potentially eligible for debt relief, of which
6 had reached "completion point", 20 "decision point", and a further 12 had yet to be considered. A
few other countries were judged to be "sustainable" after receiving traditional forms of debt relief or
after the detailed examination of their debt. Countries reaching the decision point receive interimWT/WGTDF/M/5
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relief by the main creditors. Implementing a PRSP was not the only condition for reaching the
"completion point".  There were other specific elements in terms of poverty reduction and
macroeconomic stability. He added that the HIPC process itself did not mandate treatment on any
particular sector.  There was no requirement to include trade policy in the PRSPs. Governments
identified policies and priorities based on a participatory process, which included the private sector,civil society, donors and others, and it was for those governments to decide what to retain in the
PRSPs. Indeed, he acknowledged the role of trade in poverty reduction which would suggest that
trade should feature prominently in PRSP documents. The World Bank was working on a process to
improve the understanding of this linkage so that trade could be included in PRSPs. This was one of
the objectives of the Integrated Framework (IF) which involved the Bank and other agencies.  Outside
of the IF, donors and banks were doing similar work. It also required trade ministries within local
governments to be active advocates to ensure that trade was represented at Finance Ministry levelwhere each country's development plans were dealt with, so that trade was made a feature of the
PRSPs and so that donors and other agencies saw this as a government priority in their technical
assistance and other needs.
33. In responding to delegations' comments and feedback, the representative from the OECD said
that regarding integration of the Singapore issues in the HIPC process, the OECD's understanding was
that efforts were being made by the IMF and the World Bank to integrate trade policy more closely in
PRSPs.  One aspect of this would concern custom reform and governance, which would be relevant
under the heading of trade facilitation. In reply to th e question regarding the criteria to be fulfilled to
move from the "decision" to "completion" point,  he referred to the World Bank submission in
WT/WGTDF/W/12 and to his summary of the OE CD's submission which explained the relevant
criteria. While it would be interesting to examine the impact of structural adjustment programmes on
HIPC countries, time-series were still too short to be able to make definitive conclusions. On India's
point regarding the economic performance of HIPCs, while there were still divergences between the
best performers as a group, the "completion point" countries performed on average much better than
"decision point" and other eligible countries.
34. The representative of the United States referred to Box 1 of the OECD paper which indicated
that "one major problem for many HIPC is their highly concentrated export base, which makes them
vulnerable to adverse price development in world markets for their export products. […] Attempts at
diversifying the range of exports has often stumbled due to the countries' inability to attract foreign
investors that could have assisted, for example, in the processing, packaging and distribution of agro-
food products." She indicated that her delegation would be interested in receiving more information
on the effect of developing-country to developing-country trade in this regard. Diversification,resulting from integration in world trade (including South-South trade) was indispensable, as
regulated markets such as textiles and clothing, when opened up, would certainly lead to intense
South-South competition. This meant that diversif ication was not only a problem present in South-
North trade, but one of a general nature that required domestic reforms.  Trade liberalization on a
multilateral basis, in the different range of sectors, might also be a vector of diversification fordeveloping countries' exports.
35. She insisted that the United States had also experienced interesting developments in the
context of the AGOA program, which had helped change the economic landscape of sub-Saharan
Africa, stimulate new trade opportunities for Africa businesses and entrepreneurs, create new jobs and
bring hundreds of millions of dollars of new FDI flows in the region.  As a result of the program,more than 92 per cent of all US imports from eligible countries come into the United States duty-free.
US imports of AGOA countries were growing and African exporters of non-fuel goods were gaining
the most.  The United States had imported US$9 billion of merchandise duty-free under AGOA
provisions in 2002, a 10 per cent increase as compared to 2001, despite the general decrease of
imports from the Sub-Saharan Africa region. The United States looked at increasing the eligibility ofthe programme to other countries as well as increasing the type of benefits available under theWT/WGTDF/M/5
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programme. There were also programmes in other regions, a renewed interest towards free-trade
areas, and efforts pushed by the US for a success in multilateral negotiations.
36. The representative of Brazil said that the HIPC Initiative had been geared at commodity
dependent countries. If HIPCs needed to alleviate poverty and at the same time adopt the kind of trade
reforms that some Members had suggested there would be a contradiction since farmers in the HIPCwould face unfair competition due to the use of distortive support and other subsidies by developed
countries. The HIPC Initiative, if associated with trade reform requirements, would therefore be
unbalanced and biased against the interest of the poorer farmers.
37. The representative of Egypt said his delegation welcomed the AGOA Initiative and
appreciated the United States' commitment to the Doha Development Agenda, including in the field
of TRIPS and public health.
38. The representative of the European Communities recalled that the HIPC Initiative was not
only aimed at promoting trade liberalization programmes at the domestic level. A WTO agreement on
customs procedures would deliver the kind of technica l assistance needed by the HIPCs, in particular
in raising revenue and efficiency in customs administration. This was very different from trade
liberalization measures that did not belong to the HIPC framework. The same reasoning applied to
investment and government procurement, which co uld provide HIPCs with a framework that would
improve their attractiveness and responsiveness to market opportunities. Although market access was
an important dimension of the debate, it was only a part of it. He agreed with the United States that
market access between developing countries themselves was as important as in the context of "North-
South" trade, and large potential for negotiation existed to dismantle these barriers. He emphasized
that the European Union had also implemented ambitious programmes for LDCs, in particular the"Everything-But-Arms Initiative".  The question now was that since LDCs had market access, where
was the supply response from these countries and what kind of reforms were needed to generate that
proper response.
39. The representative of Japan noted the messages conveyed by Brazil and India and reiterated
that in order to reduce poverty a global policy package was important. There existed many working
groups and committees, such as the Committee on Trade and Development, and other negotiating
groups dealing with market access and other issues that were part of this discussion. He wished to
recall Japan's contribution to the overall WTO technical assistance plan despite budgetary constraints
of his country.
40. The representative of Brazil said that there were well-known conceptual differences between
development programmes. He wished to indicate that although Brazil had nothing against tariff
preferences – from which Brazil itself was a beneficiary – it warned against possible diversions ofsuch programmes.
41. The representative of the OECD concluded by saying that policy coherence for development
was an important aspect of the study, but that the study was only a limited attempt to look at
experiences with the HIPC Initiative.  The OECD recognized that this Initiative was not a trade
liberalization initiative, but a poverty reduction one which encouraged countries to design povertyreduction strategies that might eventually contain trade policy elements, and concerned mainly
behind-the-border barriers and supply-constraints to exports. So far, the market access issue had not
been addressed within the HIPC framework.WT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 10
B. WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2003
1. Preparations for the Report of the Working Group to the General Council
42. The Chairman provided a brief report of his informal, open-ended consultations with
Members on 13 March and said that the results of the consultations had given him sufficient elements
to revise the list of themes. He did not wish to engage in a detailed comparison of his non-paper of9 December with that of the revised list in JOB(03)/54, but assured Members that he had scrupulously
kept all the ideas that were contained in the initial 15 tirets. The revised list was therefore simply a
conversion of existing tirets and reorganization of ideas, as suggested by Members. He therefore
suggested that the Group should not engage in a drafting exercise but rather, at this stage, simply
provide ideas on the tirets in order to verify that nothing had been omitted or was superfluous. He
reminded delegations that the list of themes was a summing up of work accomplished by the Working
Group over the past year and a half, which had been screened many times (during each meeting, afterthe production of each set of Minutes, and when the Group's 2002 Annual Report had been approved).
The results of all this work was reflected in JOB(03)/54 and was now summarized in only nine tirets.
He suggested that Members made their comments tiret by tiret.
43. The representative of India sought clarification on a procedural matter and asked whether
JOB(03)/54 was merely a  summary of the work done to date or was it the building block for the
Group's report to the General Council, containing eventually recommendations for action.
44. The Chairman said that the Group had to prepare a report to the General Council, which itself
would indicate to Ministers any conclusions or recommendations that the Group wished to make.
However, the Group was not required necessarily to make recommendations or proposals for future
action, but simply to report on its proceedings. For the time being, the Group had to reflect on thethemes that they had identified as being relevant to the Ministers' mandate. Members could then
simply draw up a factual report in which they woul d identify the work done to date, or they could
produce a report with recommendations on future work. He insisted that the Group was not yet at this
stage and, as a way forward in the process of prepar ing the report to the General Council, the first step
would be to agree on a list of themes.
45. Turning to substance, the representative of India said that her delegation would like to
structure the first tiret differently, in a way that was less definitive about the beneficial effects of trade
liberalization, and particularly its positive linkage with debt servicing capacity.  If trade liberalization
was improperly sequenced or timed, it could adversely impact the debt servicing capacity of
developing countries, and thereby impact on their balance-of-payments. She asked for comments from
the Chairman and other Members as to how the opening sentence could read to take into account her
remark.  Also, at the very outset of the list, she said that India would like the development dimensionof the Round to come out very strongly.
46. The representative of Egypt agreed with India and proposed a drafting change.
47. The representative of Canada said that his delegation agreed broadly with the first tiret. He
felt that some of the concerns expressed by India and Egypt were reflected already elsewhere, and use
of the word "can" throughout the paragraph prevented the statement from being too definitive.
48. The representative of Brazil agreed with the concerns expressed by India and Egypt regarding
the first tiret and drew attention to the last sentence which, in his view, could be rephrased with
greater emphasis being made on the development dimension of the Doha Development Agenda.
49. The representative of Argentina raise the same procedural point as India with respect to the
need at this stage to envisage recommendations on future work.  He said that certain tirets were
simply statement of fact whilst others already implied, in the way they were drafted, future work. AsWT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 11
regards the first tiret, he agreed with India, Egyp t and Brazil that these conclusions addressed to the
WTO were not sufficiently balanced. They implied a priority to trade reform, which was the case for
certain Members and not for others.
50. The representative of Turkey also supported the comments made by India, Egypt, Brazil and
Argentina and said that her delegation considered that the tiret underlined the role of trade
liberalization as a necessary tool for improving the debt servicing capacity of developing countries. In
previous discussions, many Members had emphasi zed that trade liberalization was not the only
dimension to alleviate debt problems. The last se ntence specifically emphasized this dimension. Debt
servicing had its own dynamic, depending on the type of country and type of debt, which was not
necessarily linked to trade liberalization.
51. The Chairman pointed out that, in the last sentence of the tiret, while there were other ways to
alleviate debt, the analysis had focused on the relationship between trade and debt, and thus there was
a relationship between success in trade and management of debt. The Group's responsibility was to
point out to Ministers what the relationship was between trade, debt and finance. This was why the
last sentence focused on this aspect of the relationship between trade and debt, as mentioned in
several previous interventions and reports.
52. The representative of the United States noted that some cross-linkages could be made
between the tirets so that tiret 1 did not appear as "unbalanced" to Members. She agreed that the tirets
were addressing conclusions for the time being, and as work progressed the Group would eventually
be able to see whether it needed to make recommendations. At this stage, she did not regard those
tirets as being conclusions, recommendations or even points for information. In a first step, she saw
the Group as concentrating on reporting about the ex amination of the relationship between trade, debt
and finance, insofar as it was in the remit of the WTO.
53. The Chairman recalled the working methodology adopted by the Working Group, namely that
it would approach issues in an educational mode.  He had therefore attempted, on his own
responsibility, to show what were the major themes that had emerged as a result of presentations and
subsequent discussions. Members now had the opportunity to indicate if something had been omittedor to present other comments. On this basis, he would draw up what would be the factual report to be
submitted to the General Council. If Members wished to go beyond these themes, or wished to make
certain – or all - of them the object of future work, or wished to arrive at a specific recommendation,
this was up to them and depended on the level of consensus achieved on the current list.
54. Summing up the disucssion so far, the Chairman said that the comments by India, Egypt,
Brazil, Argentina, and in part Turkey regarding the fi rst tiret, were all similar in that they found the
tone and content of the first sentence too rhetorical.  As suggested by India, the structure of the tiretaimed at saying that (1) trade liberalization might have a positive effect on resource allocation, and (2)
careful consideration must nevertheless be given to the sequencing and timing of reform (this second
part could be strengthened in future drafting).  This would strike the balance to which India had
referred. As regards indebtedness, delegations appeared to accept a more muted language.  What was
being pointed out in that sentence was that there existed a positive relationship between successexports and the ability to service debt. He had not wanted to imply that there was no other possibility.
55. On the second tiret, the representative of Brazil said that his delegation could accept this text
but requested clarification of its last sentence.
56. The Chairman explained that the last sentence of the tiret referred to the Asian financial crisis,
during which many Asian countries had significantly devalued their currencies.  Trading partners of
these countries could have reacted by adopting safeguard measures to avoid loss of competitiveness,
but they had refrained from doing so and this had assisted the recovery of victims of the financial
crisis.WT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 12
57. The representative of Egypt said that the WTO and the trading system were not the only
institutions that had helped during the financial crises. A nuance to this effect should be introduced in
the first sentence. It should also be emphasized in that sentence that the WTO should also have a role
in preventing similar crises.
58. Referring to the last sentence of this tiret, the representative of the European Communities
asked why, on the need for self-restraint, the Group would want to point fingers at only developed
countries and he asked whether the Group should not delete the word "developed countries".
59. The Chairman said that this concern could be taken on board to a certain extent, but recalled
that at the time of the Asian financial crisis the fact that export flows were going to developed
countries was a factual point presented at previous meetings.  Emphasis had been lain on self-restraint
on the part of developed countries. However, he said that, although unquestionably self-restraint
should not only apply to developed countries, the sentence referred to a particular period and toparticular circumstances.
60. On tiret 3, the representative of the United States stressed that, to her delegation, this tiret
look unbalanced. Keeping markets open was not the only solution to improving opportunities for
growth in developing countries. Other factors might also contribute. Therefore, she felt that the last
part of this tiret could be nuanced to reflect that  in some cases the trade element was a smaller portion
of where the problem lay.  Improved opportunities could be there but if certain supply-side measures
were not in place countries would not benefit.
61. The Chairman said that this tiret was designed to underscore the importance of the issue of
market access which was in line with the comments made by Argentina, and the idea was to make
progress in that area in order to be able to provide a solution to debt problems. He took the US pointon board, but wished to underline that this tiret was crucial in reflecting that market access was
contributing to solving debt and finance problems.
62. The representative of Brazil suggested that the first sentence might be redundant in the sense
that the fact that the WTO launched a new Round im plied that Members agreed that the current level
of market openness was not sufficient. This sentence could therefore be deleted. He wished also toadd that the wording "trade restrictions" was too weak in light of the importance of subsidies and
other non-tariff barriers and suggested replacing it with the wording "trade restrictions, including
trade distorting subsidies".
63. The representative of Canada said that as well as dismantling trade restrictions, the elements
in Box 1 of the OECD paper should also be referre d to, i.e. improving internal trade reform.  He
suggested that "trade restrictions" be accompanied by some language reflecting "restrictions to
international trade".
64. The representative of India pointed out the links between tirets 3 and 4 and suggested that the
two be combined. She wondered whether tiret 3 should not be more explicit on the kind of restrictions
(subsidies, non-tariff barriers, trade barriers), and asked that the Chairman be more explicit on that
tiret
65. The representative of Brazil asked that the mention of "in particular in areas of developing
countries' export interest" be emphasized.
66. In reply, the Chairman said that he would look into a drafting that would not loose sight the
need for generality in this tiret.
67. The representative of Egypt then asked whether tiret 3 was directed at developed or
developing countries.WT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 13
68. The Chairman said that the first sentence was directed at all countries and that the initial
wording in the second sentence would favour all Members, but that greater emphasis had been given
to developing countries' exports.
69. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation did not agree with
Brazil's assumption that this tiret implied any r ecommendation and that it was targeted at "North-
South" trade. However, it did agree with the Chairman that a certain level of abstraction had to be
kept in the wording. The tiret could also be nuanced, as requested by the United States, with a
reference to the need of domestic reforms to improve supply-side response.
70. The representative of the United States commented that developing countries should be as
much interested in the elimination of developed c ountries' restrictions to trade as to developing
countries' restrictions to trade.
71. On tiret 4, the representative of Argentina believed that the challenge of the Working Group
was to find a way in which the WTO could improve the situation of highly indebted countries.
Existing instruments did not have a positive bias in favour of the expansion of exports and the
sustainability of incomes. He re-emphasized the importance of market access because he felt that this
was the best way to alleviate the debt situation. In his view, the last sentence was not worded strongly
enough to suggest that market access was a durable solution to external indebtedness.
72. The representative of Canada had concerns over the use of the word "most" in the second
sentence of the tiret, because it implied that somehow one was able to quantify the benefits of the
contribution referred to in the sentence. He proposed deletion of that world.
73. The representative of the European Communities agreed with Canada and asked whether it
was possible to add a reference to technical assistance and support to capacity building in highly
indebted countries. Regarding the first sentence, he would favour a more nuanced statement.
Economically, he felt that ODA aid and debt relief could not be compared.
74. The representative of Colombia referred to the last sentence, that a durable solution to
indebtedness depended on a non-discriminatory reduction of barriers, and asked that the tiret be
restructured.
75. The representative of the United States suggested that the last part of the second sentence
could be inverted to read: "non-discriminatory reduction of trade barriers in the context of the current
WTO negotiations, especially in areas where barriers affect products of interest to developing
countries can be a valuable contribution that the WTO can make within its remit".
76. The representative of Brazil referred to what he regarded as an asymmetry between developed
and developing countries in the WTO, i.e. the use of export credits. Current WTO provisions
concerning export credits were imported from an outside organization, which he felt did not take intoaccount the difference between developing and developed countries.
77. The representative of India also raised concerns regarding provisions within the WTO
Agreements, which had a bearing on the mandate of the Working Group, namely Article XVIII:B,
Article XXXVIII:8 and other provisions regarding commodity prices, and possibly export credits.
This did not appear to be mentioned in the revised list of themes.
78. The Chairman said that the fact that there were a number of provisions linked to these broad
themes did not lead to their exclusion. The Secretariat had drawn up in a document a whole list of
WTO provisions related to trade, debt and finance and that document would form part of the final
report. At the present meeting, the Group was merely indicating the themes providing for aWT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 14
relationship between trade, debt and finance and in this context, he did not see where he could include
specific provisions.
79. The representative of the United States asked whether the Group was assuming that it would
endorse new mechanisms to address certain themes. In the United States' view, Article XVIII was
effective, and her delegation did not want it to be revised. The United States had no problem withreflecting the factual interest or relationships between specific provisions and the Group's mandate
that certain delegations had expressed, but as far as possible recommendations were concerned, it
would need to take a different view. To the extent  that the adding of these parts was of concern to
certain delegations, it would have to be emphasized specifically that no consensus existed on the need
for any new mechanism.
80. The Chairman said that he did not want to confuse the list of themes with the rest of the
report. The report would contain other elements which would also be discussed by Members in due
course. The list of themes on what were the main  links between trade, debt and finance had been
identified jointly by Members, including those who had made submissions to the Working Group. It
was not his intention at this stage that the Group identify articles of the Agreements that required
modification.  This could be done later, following an analysis of the themes, which might lead to
recommendations that might eventually have an effect on WTO's rules and disciplines. This would bea further stage of discussion for the Group if and when it was mandated to do so by Ministers. The
purpose of the list of themes was not to exclude articles that would have to be dealt with in other
WTO fora.
81. Turning to the first tiret of the second bullet, the Chairman informed the Group that the IMF
had begun a study on the relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade, which he was told
was fairly advanced. Various delegations had stressed the importance of this theme for further
examination because of the impact it had on trade flows.
82. The representative of Japan said that although not wishing to avoid prejudging the direction
the Working Group could take after the Ministerial Conference in Cancún, his delegation thought that
financial and debt matters should be left to the appropriate WTO working groups and committees orto other international organizations. Japan wished to delete the last part of the last sentence.
83. The representative of the United States agreed with the broad thrust of Japan's remark.
Regarding the second sentence, she said that the Group could be informed by relevant institutions
about what they were doing, but it was not for the WTO to deal with exchange rate matters. She
agreed on the specific proposal by Japan regarding the role of the Working Group on Trade, Debt and
Finance in financial services and investment.
84. The representative of Sudan said that the volatility of markets was a very sensitive issues
linked to markets. He asked whether those issues would be left to the Committee on Trade in
Financial Services or to any other bodies of the WTO should the Working Group on Trade, Debt and
Finance not wish to deal with it.
85. The representative of India agreed that the Working Group should not refer to exchange rates,
FDI and financial services.
86. The representative of the European Communitie s, commenting on the last sentence where the
Group had only proposed itself to continue work on the relationships involving other institutions and
topics, said that this sentence could be interpreted as meaning that the work would be done by the
WTO itself. The language used in the sentence was perhaps not strong enough, as it said that [those
issues] "should remain under review in the WTO, and the Working Group has the potential to play a
valuable role in this regard".  This sentence did not mean that even within the WTO, the Working
Group was the only appropriate body. By emphasizi ng issues such as FDI, financial servicesWT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 15
liberalization and capital account liberalization, and by adding the word "particularly", the sentence
was relatively open and could remain that way so as to allow the Working Group to undertake studies
in areas that all acknowledged carried complex relationships between trade, debt and finance.
Because this relationship was complex, there was a need to use such an open-ended concept in order
to give the Group enough flexibility to examine issues where the Group had a role to play.
87. The representative of Canada said that one ought to be careful not to prejudge work that
might occur in the Working Group nor to pre-assign priorities for certain tirets against others. He
requested a deletion of the sentence: "Interest was expressed that further examination of this
relationship be undertaken promptly", as it was giving too much sense of priority to this issue, since at
the same time the previous sentence provided sufficient proof of the Group's interest in this area.
With respect to the last sentence, he suggested th at the sentence end after the words "should remain
under review in the WTO".
88. The Chairman said that he would ensure that all tirets will be treated with equal attention.
89. Referring to tiret 2, the representative of the United States said that her delegation had no
problem with flagging this issue in a tiret which was identified as a main area of interest by Members.
However, the WTO should not be included as one of the intergovernmental organizations listed since
trade-financing was not within the remit of the WTO.  That said, she recognized that in the context of
the Asian financial crisis trade financing was an important element that had affected trade, the latter
being within the remit of the WTO.  However, she t hought that if the Group felt that more information
about trade financing tools was necessary, WTO Members and staff might participate on a "need-to-
know" basis in information sessions organized within the Group or within any other trade or financial
forum elsewhere. This Working Group should not engage in work on the trade-financing mechanismsince the exploration of these mechanisms was within the remit of other institutions, although the
Working Group might be informed of the progress on such work. She hoped that further drafting
could help define this position.
90. The representative of Japan agreed with the need to improve the stability and security of
trade-financing, especially in periods of crisis, but with regard to the last sentence, his delegation was
not sure whether such exploration or study was within the mandate of the WTO.
91. The representative of Canada, like most Members of the Working Group, agreed that more
work was required to understand the effects of financial crises on trade-financing, and to study the
need for potential solutions to this problem. However, he expressed concern regarding the reference to
a possible further mechanism, because he felt that there had not yet been an understanding that a
mechanism was the necessary solution to the problem. What Canada would like to see was language
that reflected that the issue of trade financing had been raised by Members and that research needed tobe undertaken to see what was the most efficient way of dealing with the problem, but not language
proposing a mechanism because the Group was not yet at that stage.
92. The Chairman pointed out that some of the requests received by countries had a bearing on
the work of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services. Given the on-going negotiation, he asked
whether Members saw a relationship between this and work being done by other intergovernmentalorganizations in the area of trade-financing.
93. Under the first tiret of bullet 3, the representatives of India and the United States
 both
objected to the word "surveillance" in the first sentence, and suggested that it be replaced by the word
"monitoring".
94. The representative of the European Communitie s referred to the linkage between capacity-
building and improvement in fiscal and customs management and asked that improvement of fiscal
and customs management be specifically addressed in the first sentence (possibly after "capacity-WT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 16
building and trade infrastructure) as they in turn improved revenue collection and trade facilitation.  A
reference to the Integrated Framework could also follow this sentence.
95. The representative of Canada pointed out that the issue referred to in this tiret was of great
importance to his delegation.
96. Under tiret 2, the representative of the European Communities said that his delegation wished
to integrate into the last sentence the issues identified by the OECD in Box 1 of its paper
(WT/WGTI/W/19).
97. On tiret 3, the representative of Canada, supported by the United States , said that his
delegation was uncertain as to the link which emerged from the first two sentences and expressed
concern on the conclusion that could be drawn whereby the inability to obtain official financing was
limiting the ability of developing countries to diversify their exports. Canada was not sure of the
causality between those two sentences and thus propos ed that some re-drafting be done to ensure that
such a link could not be made.
98. The representative of India said that his delegate d wished to revert to these two sentences at a
later stage. In this respect, the Chairman said that  he would convene a final consultation to review the
list before the Group's Annual Report was circulated.
2. Structure of the Report of the Working Group to the General Council
99. The Chairman indicated that the list of themes that had been discussed would be directly
inserted into the Report as the summary of the Group's conclusions and the response to the mandate in
Paragraph 36 of the Doha Declaration.  The Report should be short, explaining in a relatively
straightforward way how the Group had arrived at the revised and agreed list of themes. He
recommended that the Report be factual, starting with a reminder of the Minister's Mandate, and then,following the layout of the Group's 2002 Annual Report , continuing with a short description of the
work programme, the way it had been implemented at each meeting and the attempts made by the
Chair, under his own responsibility, to draw up a li st of the main themes which had resulted from
these meetings.
100. The representatives of Canada, India
, and Brazil  proposed that the Chairman present a short
outline of the report to the Working Group, attaching a list of the documents that had been produced
for the Working Group's discussions.
101. It was so decided.
102. The Chairman concluded by explaining the way forward.  He would revise the list of themes
according to comments, using his best efforts to accommodate everyone's wishes, but at the same time
he asked delegates to keep a broad view of the text, and not to engage in controversy over priorities
and words. Once the new version of the list of themes was ready, he would convene consultationswhere he would distribute to Members a general outline of the Report to be examined at the Group's
June meeting.
103. The meeting was adjourned.WT/WGTDF/M/5
Page 17
ANNEX
WORK PROGRAMME 2002
I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND FINANCE
A. FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE AND TRADE
B. TRADE POLICY AND FINANCIAL STABILITY
C. ANY RELEVANT WTO P ROVISIONS
D. OTHER TOPICS RAISED BY MEMBERS
II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND DEBT
A. EXTERNAL DEBT AND TRADE
B. TRADE -RELATED ISSUES AND ALLEVIATION OF THE EXTERNAL INDEBTEDNESS OF
DEVELOPING AND LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
C. ANY RELEVANT WTO P ROVISIONS
D. OTHER TOPICS RAISED BY MEMBERS
III. TOWARDS GREATER COHERENCE
A. ASSESSMENT OF WORK IN PROGRESS
B. ORIENTATION OF FUTURE WORK
__________