WORLD TRADE WT/FIFTY/H/ST/15
19May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2098)
50thANNIVERSARY Original: French
Geneva, 19May1998
CÔTED'IVOIRE
Statement byH.E. Mr.Daniel Kablan Duncan,
Prime Minister
Iamextremelyhonoured,atthismajorinternationalcooperationforum,torepresentthePresident
oftheRepublic ofCôted'Ivoire, HisExcellency Mr.Henri Konan Bedie, whoisunable toattend but
instructed metotransmit thefollowing message:
"Onbehalf oftheIvorian people andonmyownbehalf, Ishould liketoaddmyvoice tothose
ofmycounterparts present atthisaugust gathering inthePalais desNations, Geneva, inorder tobring
tothishistoric ceremony themessage ofCôted'Ivoire ontheoccasion ofthe50thAnniversary ofthe
multilateral trading system under theaegis oftheGATT/WTO.
Permit mefirstofalltoexpress mywarm thanks tothepeople andGovernment oftheSwiss
Confederation, thehostcountry, fortheenthusiastic anddignified welcome extended totheIvorian
delegation.
Ishould liketoinclude inthese thanks yourselves andallthose who, inwhatever way, are
placing their knowledge andenergies attheservice oftheWTO fortheestablishment ofamore
transparent andfairer trade order.
Finally, allow metoexpress myspecial pleasure atthedistinguished presence of
President Mandela, agreat manoffaith, conviction andvision, whose international work doescredit
tothewhole ofAfrica.
AsaGATT contracting party since 1963, Côted'Ivoire, whose economy since theearliest
daysofindependence hasbeenresolutely outward-looking, inaccordance withitschoice ofaliberal
economic policy, hasprogressively abandoned non-tariff barriers totradeinfavour ofmore transparent
customs duties.
Thus, today, Côted'Ivoire hasgreatly liberalized bothitsforeign anddomestic trade.
Itwastherefore withtotalconfidence thatittookpartinthehistoric meeting inMarrakesh
inApril 1994, which sawthesigning oftheFinal Actofthelongest round ofnegotiations inthehistory
oftheGATT.
Being aware ofalltheglobal economic challenges, theIvorian Parliament, thefullandperfect
expression ofourdemocracy, committed ourcountry tojointheWTO inJanuary 1995 asoneofthe
founder Members. Toeverbody 'ssatisfaction, theRound contributed to:
- Substantially reducing thelevelofbound duties;
- broadening therange ofproducts towhich thisimprovement applies;WT/FIFTY/H/ST/15
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- extending theGATT rules totrade inservices andtrade-related intellectual property
rights;
- strengthening thetrade dispute settlement body;
- maximizing trade flows, withtheincreasingly active participation ofagreat number
ofcountries inworld trade: 132Members and30observer governments, including
inparticular China andtheRussian Federation;
- increasing investment anditscorollary, namely jobcreation;
- reducing domestic price subsidies;
- contributing totheefforts atregional integration asaprelude toparticipation byour
countries inthemultilateral trading system.
Itisgenerally recognized thatthe50years ofthemultilateral trading system under GATT/WTO
auspices havebeencharacterized by:
- Thecreation ofnewsources ofwealth generated byinvestment;
- anannual 10percentincrease intrade flows, from US$50 thousand million in1947
tonearly US$6 billion today.
Itisestimated thattheUruguay Round Agreements could leadtoanincrease inglobal income
ofapproximately US$500 thousand million bytheyear2005. Thisisthebenefit which alltheWTO
Member countries hopetoachieve iftheAgreements arefullyimplemented. However, thereisarisk
thatthisdistribution ofresources maynotbeuniversally beneficial, judging bytheperformance of
thedeveloping countries 'economies. Indeed, asfarasAfrica isconcerned, itsshare intheglobal
economy hasdeclined steadily, from 5percentin1985 toroughly 2percentin1996, eventhough
theAfrican countries havecontinued toexport rawmaterials.
Nevertheless, some oftheresults oftheUruguay Round stillcause usconcern duetotheerosion
oftrade preferences under theLomé Convention.
Tociteanexample, Côted'Ivoire willseesubstantial financial resources eroded solely inthe
pineapples andbananas sector, thereby impoverishing small-scale planters, towhom weattach special
importance, unless aboldtechnical andfinancial assistance policy helps ustoadapt oureconomy to
recent developments intheglobalization oftrade. Thissector yields average annual earnings of
CFAF 150thousand million. Thisisalarge amount, averylarge amount foraneconomy which is
onlyjustexperiencing economic growth onceagain afteralengthy crisis lasting from1980 to1993.
Inaddition, there istheproblem raised bytheuseofvegetable fatsother thancocoa butter
inthemanufacture ofchocolate. Itgoeswithout saying thatalargesector ofoureconomy would collapse
withthefollowing consequences:
- Areduction indemand forcocoa beans amounting toalmost 200,000 tonnes forthe
31ACP producers;
- asharp dropinglobal prices forcocoa;
- athreat tojobsinthecocoa-processing industry, andeventotheindustrialization or
modernization ofsectors ofeconomic activity inmany developing countries.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/15
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Theimmediate social impact ofthissituation atatimewhen ourcountries areresolutely engaged
inanunrelenting struggle against poverty could bedisastrous fortheruralpopulation, which willbecome
increasingly vulnerable.
Thisiswhyitisimportant thattheinternational community should continue togivetheirsupport
under theplantoreduce thedebtofhighly-indebted poorcountries soastohelpustointegrate better
intothemultilateral trading system.
Inthisconnection, weexpress ourgratitude toorganizations such asUNCTAD andthe
International Trade Centre (ICC), which combine theirefforts withthose oftheWTO tohelpdeveloping
countries sothattheyarebetter prepared toenter intotheforthcoming negotiations insectors such
as:
- Agriculture;
- trade andenvironment;
- maritime transport;
- trade-related investment.
While werecognize therelevance ofthese issues, wewould liketoseethesuccesses achieved
inthepreceding negotiations consolidated before exploring newareas. Thisistheonlywayinwhich
countries suchasourscan,withequanimity, become integrated inthemultilateral trading system 's
neworder.
Weplace great hopes intheWTO 'snewjointintegrated programme withUNCTAD andthe
ICConassistance todeveloping countries, especially theleast-developed countries, inthefollow-up
totheUruguay Round Agreements.
These aresome oftheelements towhich theIvorian delegation wishes todraw yourattention
ontheoccasion ofthe50thAnniversary ofourcommon Organization.
Inconcluding, Ishould liketoinform youthattheIvorian Government hasalready setupa
National Committee onfollow-up totheWTO Agreements, bringing together theprivate sector and
theGovernment, tomonitor implementation oftheWTO Agreements andensure better participation
infuture negotiations.
Iamcertain thattheappropriate solutions thatwillbefound asaresult ofthevalidissues raised
attheSecondMinisterialConferenceoftheWTOwillstrengthenstillfurtherourfaithintheglobalization
ofthetrading system asafactor forprogress andsolidarity among nations ontheeveofthethird
millennium, aftereight rounds ofmultilateral negotiations in50years.
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