WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/112
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5292)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Statement byTheHonourable Kilroy Genia, M.P.
Minister forForeign Affairs andTrade
Letmefromtheoutset extend onbehalf ofmyGovernment andmydelegation, ourfelicitations
toyouandyourGovernment forplaying hosttothishistoric inaugural WTO Ministerial Conference
inyourbeautiful city.
Ialsocongratulate youandyourGovernment fortheexcellent organization ofthisConference.
Overtwoyears ago,theUruguay Multilateral Trade Negotiations wereconcluded inMarrakesh
when WTO Members tookaboldsteptowards concerted trade liberalization onaglobal scale. At
about thesame time, theAPEC economic leaders launched theBogor Declaration toliberalize trade
andinvestment by2010 and2020 intheAsia-Pacific region.
Papua NewGuinea isencouraged bythese initiatives which nodoubt willcontribute toand
increase thewell-being ofourpeople.
Efforts haveandarebeing made towards tradeliberalization bymeans ofregional, sub-regional
andbilateral arrangements.
MyGovernment acknowledges WTO asavitalanddynamic Organization thatupholds many
noble goals.
Itcertainly willrequire thecommitments andcollective efforts byallMember countries to
realize these goals.
Forourpart,Papua NewGuinea hasaspecific action planontradeandinvestment liberalization
andfacilitation consistent withthegoals ofWTO andAPEC forthatmatter.
Wehaveinfactreduced ourtariff bands toacceptable levels onnecessity goods, selective
industry inputs andcapital equipments. Wearealsomaking progress tofurther reduce tariffmeasures.
PapuaNewGuineaiscommittedtothefreeing-upoftheglobaltradingsystemandtheelimination
ofimpediments totrade. Weareconvinced thatthiswillensure sustainable economic growth forboth
developed anddeveloping countries.
Trade liberalization efforts have drawn many ofthesmall developing andleastdeveloped
countries topooltheirresources together tointegrate theireconomies inpursuit ofWTO objectives
andgoals.WT/MIN(96)/ST/112
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You may already beaware thatthecountries intheSouth Pacific region, including
Papua NewGuinea, havealready taken acollective approach toaddress thedevelopment needs and
management challenges especially inourfisheries andmarine sectors.
Atthesub-regional level, thefree-trade areaarrangement among Melanesian countries have
registered progressive growth asthecommodities listisexpanded. Growth perpetuated byfree-trade
zones which translates toimprovement inthestandard ofliving forthemass population isconsistent
withtheWTO principles.
Justafewweeks ago,myPrime Minister proposed totheAPEC economic leaders, the
establishment ofanAPEC centre inPapua NewGuinea asaconduit forsmall Pacific island economies
tobemeaningfully involved inthetrade liberalization process.
Wearegrateful totheAPEC economic leaders whointheir wisdom gave support and
endorsement tomycountry 'sinitiative. WithUNDP 'scommitment toprovide financial andtechnical
support weintend toestablish thisfacility nextyear.
These aresome oftheefforts thatPapua NewGuinea andthecountries inourregion have
beenengaged inontrade liberalization andfacilitation andregional economic integration.
Papua NewGuinea 'smembership toWTO hasnotbeenasmooth sailing one.
Likemanydevelopingcountrieswhoareconstrainedbylackofadequatefinancialandmanpower
resources, coupled withinadequate institutional framework, Papua NewGuinea 'scompliance relating
toitsnotification obligations havebeenslow.
Papua NewGuinea would liketoemphasise theneedforWTO assistance, especially forthose
developing countries withtechnical, financial andinstitutional difficulties. Suchassistance should be
intheformofproviding training opportunities totheirnationals tofullyunderstand WTO 'soperations
sothattheycanparticipate effectively andrespond appropriately tofulfil their obligations and
commitments.
Iamindeed delighted tonotethatWTO isorganizing ameeting foritsMembers withaid
agencies andmultilateral financial institutions nextyeartofoster anintegrated approach toassist least
developed countries tomeettheirobligations under theWTO Agreements.
Theproblem offailing tomeetobligations isnotexclusive toleastdeveloped countries and
theextension ofsucharrangement toinclude developing island countries should beconsidered.
Ihavenoted thatWTO hasconcluded aCooperation Agreement withtheWorld Bank andthe
IMFforgreater coherence inglobal policy making, andhopethatconcerns ofdeveloping countries
willnowbeaddressed withmore sensitivity.
Ithasbeennoted thatWTO wants topromote cooperation anddevelopment through technical
assistance. Papua NewGuinea welcomes thisinitiative, butwould likethetechnical assistance tobe
tailored toimprove competitiveness ofindustries andproducts indeveloping countries rather thanjust
addressing notification problems faced bydeveloping countries.
Turningtotheissueoftradeandenvironment,IwishtoaffirmPapuaNewGuinea'scommitment
made attheRioSummit inAugust 1992andtheBerlin Climatic Change Summit in1995onsustainable
development andprotection oftheenvironment.WT/MIN(96)/ST/112
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Whilst committed tothose undertakings, Papua NewGuinea israther concerned thattradehas
beensubjected toenvironmental issues.
Asadeveloping country whose economy depends heavily onnatural resources -forest, fisheries,
mining, agriculture andthefactthatthemajority ofitsrural population 'slivelihood depends on
subsistence farming, fishing andhunting, wearewaryofthepotential adverse effects oftheenvironment
debate.
Mindful ofitsrelevance, Papua NewGuinea hasstrong reservations forsuggestions toconclude
amultilateral investment agreement under theWTO.
Asadeveloping country, many ofourindustries arestillbeing developed andwilltakesometime
tomature, while theworkforce istrying toacquire skills thatindustrial nations havedeveloped many
years ago.
Suchanagreement, ifendorsed willnotonlybecounter-productive toournational development
efforts, butwillpushusfurther backtothevicious spiral ofaiddependency which Papua NewGuinea
istrying tobreak outof.
Onthequestion oflabour standards, Papua NewGuinea shares theviews ofthose countries
whohavestated thatWTO isnottheappropriate forum todiscuss thisissue. Wewould rather leave
thistoindividual countries andtheir ministers responsible forlabour todealwith under the
ILOframework.
Onthematter oftransparency andcode ofconduct forgovernment procurement,
Papua NewGuinea likemany Member countries hasitsownbusiness culture which itwants topreserve.
Wehaveourownlegislation under theNational Constitution todiscipline theleaders. Itis
rather superfluous fordeveloped countries toimpose moral codes ofbehaviour ondeveloping countries.
Inthisregard, Papua NewGuinea would rather liketoseethisissuebebetter lefttoindividual
countries toaddress rather thanoverburden thework ofthisaugust Conference.
With these global changes, wehaveanewworld. Itislarger andhighly internationalized,
promising much while posing many challenges ahead ofus.
TheWTO must beseenastheprime vehicle tospearhead andfacilitate moves towards
liberalizing trade andinvestment, theprime objective being thedevelopment ofafreer trading
environment globally.
Papua NewGuinea iscommitted toWTO andwillcooperate initsendeavour tosecuring the
noble goals andaspirations inthisglobal family.
Webelieve thatthecredibility oftheWTO willbestrengthened iftheuniversal character of
itispreserved.
Inthisrespect, weurgethataccession procedures forthecountries whohaveapplied for
membership including thosefromtheSouth Pacific region befast-tracked andgiven immediate attention.
Finally, permit metoexpress mydelegation 'smostsincere gratitude forthewarm welcome
andthehospitality accorded tousbythepeople andGovernment ofSingapore.WT/MIN(96)/ST/112
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Letmealsothank theDirector-General, Mr.Renato Ruggiero andhishard-working WTO
stafffortheassistance given toPapua NewGuinea inourefforts tojoinWTO andallthetechnical
assistance given leading uptothismeeting.