WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/99
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5276)
Original: French MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
CAMEROON
Statement byMr.Edmond Moampea Mbio
Secretary ofState forIndustrial andTrade Development
Iwould liketoaddmyvoice toprevious speakers incongratulating youonyourelection as
Chairman ofthisConference. History willrecord thatyouwerethefirstChairman ofthehighest body
ofourOrganization.
Iwould also,through you,liketopayspecial tribute toyourGovernment andthepeople of
Singapore forallthehospitality shown tomydelegation since ourarrival inyourmagnificent capital
andfortheperfect organization ofthismeeting.
Allow mefinally tocongratulate Mr.Renato Ruggiero, Director-General oftheWTO andthe
Secretariat which heleads withsuchskillandefficiency.
Twoyears havegonebysince wesigned theMarrakesh Agreements which brought theWTO
intobeing.
Thismeeting isthusthefirstopportunity forustoassess thedetermination ofitsMembers
toestablish, worldwide, aframework forajointapproach totradeproblems andtomeasure thedistance
covered inrelation tothecommitments undertaken atMarrakesh.
Acommitment, ofcourse, togreater liberalization ofinternational trade, butalsoacommitment
totruesolidarity between Members, totakeaccount oftheirdifferent levels ofdevelopment.
Cameroon, foritspart, reiterates itsdetermination tobring itseconomy progressively into
linewiththenewliberal context characterized bytheglobalization oftrade.
Withrespect totrade, thequantitative restrictions formally imposed onimports toprotect local
industry havebeentotally eliminated.
Licences andother forms ofauthorization, forbothimports andexports, havebeenabolished
andtheadministrative procedures forforeign trade havebeenconsiderably simplified.
Asregards tariffs, thetaxandcustoms reforms adopted on14February 1994 intheCentral
African Customs andEconomic Union (UDEAC) introduced asingle much-reduced dutyrateforeach
ofthefourcategories ofimports.
Where investment isconcerned, theGovernment hasembarked onanambitious programme
ofprivatization andisconsiderably reducing theincentives offered toinvestors under theInvestment
Code, inparticular customs concessions.WT/MIN(96)/ST/99
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Multilateral evaluation oftherelated measures willsoonbepossible asaresult ofnotifications
tobemade totheWTO Secretariat.
Thatwillconstitute aformal expression notonlyoftheintention ofmyGovernment tomeet
itscommitments under theAgreements which havealready beenconcluded, butalsoitswillingness
tosupport anyinitiative toimprove theinternational trade environment which, ofcourse, tookinto
account theinterests ofalltheMembers ofourOrganization.
Inthisrespect, Cameroon welcomes thetransitional measures infavour ofdeveloping countries
contained inthecurrent agreements.
Wealsowelcome theinitiative oftheWTO Secretariat inorganizing, forthebeginning ofnext
year, ameeting withtheaidagencies, theBretton Woods institutions, UNDP andtheleastdeveloped
countries.
Thiscombination will,Ihope, make itpossible tocreate thenecessary synergies between fund-
providers involved instrengthening institutional capacity intheleastdeveloped countries, enabling
them toreconcile theobligations arising fromtheiraccession totheWTO withtheirmacroeconomic
circumstances, national legislation anddevelopment priorities.
However, thedesired strengthening oftheinstitutional capacity ofLDCs should bematched
byastrengtheningoftheirsupplycapacity,inparticularthroughthepromotionofproductionandexports,
thedevelopmentofinfrastructureandtheencouragementofmovestowardsregionaleconomicintegration.
AstheCameroon Head ofState, HisExcellency PaulBiya, reminded theworld atthe
51stSession oftheUnited Nations General Assembly, inhiscapacity asPresident oftheOrganization
ofAfrican Unity (OAU), "Theeconomic environment isscarcely inourfavour, therisksofourcontinent
being marginalized aregrowing. Thus, everyday:
- Financial flows toAfrica arefalling; government development aid,which wasalready
declining, isbeing subjected toincreasingly numerous conditions;
- thedebtburden isgrowing constantly more onerous;
- ourproducts arehaving difficulty gaining access totheinternational market;
- there isageneral tendency todisinvest inourcountries andcapital isslowtoarrive."
Inthisconnection, Iwelcome theinitiation ofthedebate oninvestment.
However, thedevelopment dimension must betaken intoaccount asamatter ofpriority.
Thismeans thatdeveloping countries mustbeclosely involved inallstages ofthenegotiations,
particularly thepreliminary studies where theywould berepresented, ifonlyasobservers, bytheir
economic integration organizations.
Issues related tocompetition should besimilarly examined.
Wemust finally takeupthechallenge ofsolidarity indeveloping international trade.
IfImayagain borrow thewords usedbythePresident oftheOAU inaddressing the51stSession
oftheUnited Nations General Assembly, "Allcountries areaffected byglobalization. Today moreWT/MIN(96)/ST/99
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thanever, theinternational community isaware ofitscommon destiny andthewaywerespond to
thechallenges before usmust ofnecessity reflect thatglobalization."
Itisachallenge thatwecantakeup,provided thattogether wetrulydemonstrate thewillto
doso.