WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/81
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5235)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
UNITED NATIONS (UN)/UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCTAD)
Statement byMr.Rubens Ricupero
Secretary-General ofUNCTAD
(Speaking onbehalf oftheSecretary-General oftheUN,
Dr.Boutros Boutros-Ghali, andoftheUNCTAD, asanObserver)
Ispeak today onbehalf ofDr.Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General oftheUnited Nations,
andoftheUnited Nations Conference onTrade andDevelopment, UNCTAD. Itismyhonour to
address thisfirstMinisterial-level Meeting oftheWorld Trade Organization hereinSingapore -a
remarkable example ofprogress anddevelopment, bornoutofhardwork, enterprise andanunswerving
commitment tofreetrade.
Allow me,first, toreadabriefmessage totheConference from Dr.Boutros-Ghali.1
Thebestprescription forthisConference wasoneoffered byourChairman himself. Speaking
inBrisbane, 10months ago,whatMinister Yeosaidthenremains justasvalidtoday. Consolidation,
balance andprogress: These arethethreeelements thatthemeeting should seektoreconcile andachieve.
Balance isanessential ingredient oftheother twoelements, andmust therefore bepresent inboth
consolidation andprogress.
Youmayask:Howisitpossible toseekbalance inasubject liketrade, onewhose veryessence
iscompetition -agame inwhich some willinevitably gainmore thanothers? Asglobalization ismeant
toleadtotheunification ofmarkets onaplanetary dimension, thequestion hasbecome particularly
pressing. After all,theunification ofmarkets implies theabolition ofnational andregional barriers,
andtheprotection theyprovide toweak sectors. Theconsequences canonlybetheexacerbation of
competition.
Competition isthebeating heart oftheorganism, pumping thelifeblood around thesystem.
But,asIsaid, itisalsoagame. And, likeanyother game, itmust haverules andreferees. The
Uruguay Round gaveusthemostcomprehensive setoftrade rules everdrawn up.TheRound also
gaveusastrong referee toenforce them-theWorld Trade Organization. But,asinallfields ofhuman
endeavour, theeffort fellshort oftheideal.
1Themessage totheMinisterial Conference from Dr.Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UNSecretary General, is
reproduced, WT/MIN(96)/ST/82.WT/MIN(96)/ST/81
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Turning totherules themselves, there arethree main tasks thatdeserve priority attention in
theshaping ofthefuture trading system. These are:
- Theneedtodefine thenatural frontiers ofthetrade system inaglobalized world
economy;
- theneedtoincrease thedegree ofuniversality oftheWTO andthemanagement of
thedecision-making process inthetrading system; and
- theneedtoensure thefullintegration ofdeveloping countries, andespecially theleast
developed among them, intothetrading system assoonaspossible.
Thefirsttaskisbased ontheperception thatdifferences innational policies maycreate unfair
advantages thatshould bechecked byextending theso-called "frontiers" ofthetrading system into
newareas.
Theverysuccess oftheUruguay Round hasgiven risetopressures tousetheWTO asan
instrument todealwithnon-trade objectives; inshort, asapowerful device forglobal governance.
Suchanapproach could destabilize thebalance ofrights andobligations based onreciprocity andmutual
benefits which forms thebedrock ofthesystem.
Forthisreason, anyeventual expansion ofthese trade "frontiers" should betheresult ofa
conscious decision oftheinternational community asawhole, aftercareful consideration oftwomajor
concerns. Thefirstistheextent towhich there needs tobeabalance between themobility ofgoods,
services, capital andlabour.
Anadditional concern relates directly tothechallenge posed byglobalization. Sooner orlater
wewillberequired toquestion whether some traditional trade instruments arerelevant inaglobal
economy inwhich production isscattered among many countries andisnolonger amainly domestic
process.
Atthesametime, itwillbecome necessary toseekcoherence between callsforthecontestability
ofmarkets worldwide andthebelief insome quarters thatcompetition should belimited whenever
itputsinjeopardy higher social values, suchascorehuman andlabour rights ortheprotection ofthe
environment. Ifthesebecome acceptable, whatothercommonly-shared values should alsobeprotected?
Thesecond taskbefore usistoexpedite theprocess ofaccession totheWTO ofthescores
offormer centrally-planned economies aswellastheoilexporting, leastdeveloped andsmall island
developing countries. Thechallenge herewillbetwo-fold. First, within areasonable time-frame,
tobalance thenecessary rigorous observance ofdisciplines withadegree offlexibility andunderstanding
forthedifficulties andconstraints faced bythese countries. Secondly, toprepare foranimprovement
intransparency andMember States 'ability toparticipate inthedecision-making process. After all,
inthenotsodistant future, perhaps 150countries, including suchhugeonesasChina andRussia, will
hopefully beinvolved intheprocess.
ButtherealtestfortheWTO willbetoconcentrate ontheunfinished business ofcompleting
theintegration ofalldeveloping countries intotheworld trading system. Withthepartial realization
ofthisgoal,theresults achieved sofarhighlight thehugepotential benefits fortheinternational economy
thatstillremain untapped.
Forthepastfiveyears, thevolume ofimports intoAsiahasexpanded faster thantheregion 's
exports, rising byover60percent. Ifsuchanimport growth rateweretocontinue overthenextfourWT/MIN(96)/ST/81
Page3
years, theexpansion ofimports intothe10leading Asian economies could equal thatoftheUnited States
andEuropean Union combined. Even more significant isthefactthatAsia'seconomic growth and
import increase haslargely beengenerated internally. Unlike thepast,itisnolonger asdependent
ontheregion 'sindustrial partners, some ofwhich haveeither beeninrecession orelsehaveshown
onlysluggish import demand.
Thissuggests thatoneshould notfocus onlyonwhatishappening inindustrial counties when
considering prospects forexternal demand. Infuture, theadditional demand generated byexports
toAsian andsome other developing countries islikely tobemore important foreachoftheUS,the
EUandJapan thananything achieved bytheother members ofthetriad.
Ifsuchimpressive gains were theproduct ofrecent developments inunder 20countries, it
isnothardtoimagine thealmost limitless possibilities thatcould materialize were weabletofully
integrate intotheworld trading system themore than100economies thataretoday marginalized.
Forthislatter group, admittedly, thechallenge ismore complex thanformore advanced
developing countries. They facethesame problems ofmarket access andinadequate competitivity
asothers. But,ontop,theyarecrippled bytheirextremely narrow production baseandlimited supply
capacity, often remaining dependent ontheexport ofoneortwocommodities. Toassist developing
countries, especially theleastdeveloped among them, withtheireffective integration intotheworld
trading system istherolethatUNCTAD wascalled upontoplaybytheinternational community earlier
thisyearinSouth Africa.
Indrawing upwhat wascalled "apartnership fordevelopment" atUNCTAD IX,our
188Member States provided uswithasolidbasis forconstructive cooperation withtheWTO. This
cooperation hasalready started tobearfruit, inAfrica andelsewhere. Focusing onthose areas of
expertise where UNCTAD hastraditionally enjoyed acomparative advantage, there ismuch inour
work programme thatisdirectly relevant to,andsupportive of,thework oftheWTO.
UNCTAD 'sbasic vocation thusremains unaltered: thatis,towork towards atrading system
which promotes equitable andsustainable development.
Itisparticularly striking thatatamoment when, astheDraft Ministerial Declaration states,
thereare"unprecedented opportunities" forimproved growth, jobcreation anddevelopment, asentiment
ofanguish andafearofthefuture pervades somuch oftheworld 'spopulation. TheWTO, the
United Nations System andother relevant international organizations must work towards reducing
uncertainty andinsecurity inaglobalizing andliberalizing world economy.
Toachieve thisgoal, thefullandequitable integration ofdeveloping countries intotheworld
economy andtheworld trading system isnotapartoftheproblem thatafflicts the"anxious classes"
worldwide. Onthecontrary, thisintegration isanessential partofthesolution. Itis,indeed, the
bestprospect intheshort termforthegeneration ofsound andcredible reasons forhopeinthefuture.