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WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68  
 
27 June 2013  
(13-3357)  Page: 1/10  
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries 
Sixty-Eighth Session   
 
 NOTE OF THE MEETING OF 12 APRIL 2013 
Chairperson: Ambassador Steffen Smidt (Denmark) 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST- DEVELOPED CO UNTRIES ............................................ 1  
-  Market Access for Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-Developed 
Countries (WT/COMTD/ LDC/W/56/Rev.1) ............................................................................. 1  
C. TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 
INITIATIVES FOR LEAST- DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ........................................................... 5  
-  WTO Technical Assistance and Training to the Least-Developed Countries:  Oral 
Report by the Secretariat ................................................................................................... 5  
D. UPDATE OF THE WTO WORK PROG RAMME FOR THE LEAST-DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES (WT/CO MTD/LDC/11) .................................................................................. 9  
E. RETREAT OF THE LEAST-DEVELO PED COUNTRIES, MONTREUX, 
SWITZERLAND, 18-20 OCTOBER 2012: CO MMUNICATION FROM NEPAL, ON 
BEHALF OF THE LDC GROU P (WT/COMTD/LDC/22) ....................................................... 10  
F. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................. 10  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Sub-Committee adopted the draft agenda contained in WTO/AIR/4104. 
B. MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
- Market Access for Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-Developed 
Countries (WT/COMTD/LDC/W/56/Rev.1) 
2. The Chairman recalled that at the Sub-Committee's last meeting in October 2012, Members 
had engaged in an extensive discussion on the Secretariat Note entitled "Market Access Issues for 
Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-Developed Countries". In light of comments 
received at that meeting, the Note was revised and circulated as WT/COMTD/LDC/W/56/Rev.1. He invited the Secretariat to provide some update d information on trends in LDC trade in 2012. 
3. The representative of the Secretariat (Chief St atistician) noted that LDCs had significantly 
increased their share in world exports in recent years, although this increase had only sufficed to 
bring them to a modest 1.1% of the global total in 2012. The upward trend for merchandise trade growth in terms of value had flattened somewh at in 2012 due to a drop in commodity prices. 
Services exports also showed a positive trend since 2007, though they accounted for a small 
portion of LDC exports.  
4. Primary products had actually increased their share in LDCs' collective export basket, from 
58% in 2000 to 73% in 2012. While this, he said, reflected the rise in commodity prices over the 
past decade, it equally demonstrated LDCs' lack of ability to diversify their non-traditional exports, particularly towards emerging economies. Three of the five top-leading destinations for LDC WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  exports in 2012 were emerging economies, though exports in these destinations remained focused 
on natural resources.   
5. He said that LDCs' services trade had been marked  by rapid growth in quantity as well as in 
quality, albeit from a low base. LDC services expo rts had increased by 12% per year over the last 
12 years, a rate that had accelerated in the past five years - though LDCs still represented only 
about 0.5% of the world trade in services in 2012. LDC services exports were dominated by tourism, which made up over 50% of the total (up from 45% in 2000); other important sectors 
were transportation services (23%), and communication services (8%). The communications 
services sector highlighted the impact of new technologies such as mobile telephony, which had over the past decade reduced the cost of investing in communications infrastructure, with the result that cost was no longer a barrier for LDCs to start trading in information technology-related 
services. This was notable, not just in terms of  dollars or balance of payments, but because it 
demonstrated that diversification in services was possible, and that it could be labour and skill intensive. 
6. He said that the collective trade balance of LD Cs had returned to deficit, as the surpluses 
registered before the 2008-09 crises had evaporat ed, as exports had flattened while imports had 
increased in the last few years. The deepening defi cits could represent increased imports of capital 
goods to develop infrastructure and productive capacity; it could also represent deterioration in 
LDCs' terms of trade. In this regard, he anticipated that the Secretariat would have clearer answers later in the year. He noted that there was considerable variance among individual LDCs' trade balances, based on their export specialization: fuel and oil exporting LDCs had a collective 
trade surplus of around US$48 billion in 2012, while farm export-oriented LDCs had a deficit of 
about US$40 billion; exporters of manufactures an d minerals registered deficit of US$25 billion, 
and US$30 billion, respectively. 
7. As regards the market access situation of LDCs, he noted that there had been a downward 
long-term trend for tariffs levied on exports from LDCs, between 1996 and 2011. The trend of enhanced market access in favour of LDCs received momentum following the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Decision on duty-free quota-free (DFQ F) market access for LDC products. Nearly all 
developed Members of the WTO offered duty-free access to LDCs. The United States' GSP scheme 
for LDCs offered duty-free access to 82.5% of it s tariff lines. LDCs from Asia did not enjoy 
duty-free access for their apparel exports, though  those LDCs had increased their market share 
even in the absence of special tariff  concessions like duty-free access.  
8. He drew a distinction between circumstances in  which LDC exports received DFQF treatment 
because of a specific preference scheme, and the many cases where the MFN tariff was zero. In 
the latter case, LDCs simply received the same tariff treatment as developing countries; there was 
no margin of preference. Indeed, for developed co untry markets taken together, the proportion of 
their imports from LDCs that entered duty free and qu ota free was only slightly higher than that of 
their imports from non-LDC developing countries that were subject to neither tariffs nor quotas. 
That said, close to 50% of the duty-free treatment received by LDCs was truly preferential (i.e. the 
percentage of exports offered duty-free treatm ent under the GSP-LDC and other preferential 
schemes, as compared to products offered duty-f ree entry under the MFN treatment) while this 
was the case for only 20% for other developing countries.  
9. The representative of Nepal, on behalf of th e LDC Group, said that the expansion of LDCs' 
exports of goods and services continued at a faster pace in 2011, the value of which reached 
US$230 billion. The annual average growth rate of  LDC exports had been higher than that of 
developing countries during 2001-2011. He was also encouraged to note that LDC exports of commercial services had been on a rising trend over the last few years. The share of services 
sector had reached almost half of LDCs’ GDP and trade in services was increasingly becoming 
important for the LDCs. In this regard, he underlined the importance of early operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver adopted by Members in 2011. 
10. He went on to say that despite some positive progress, LDCs continued to remain 
marginalized in world trade and that the fundamental economic situation remained unchanged. 
Most LDCs were unable to diversify their export base. Recent growth of exports had mostly been 
driven by exports of fuels and mining products. The share of primary commodities continued to 
increase while all products, except fuels and minerals, had witnessed a drop in their share in total WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  exports. The share of apparel, which had been the major manufacturing item of LDCs and was 
labour intensive, had experienced a decline in 2011.  
11. He pointed out that, with the exception of the oil-exporting LDCs, merchandise trade deficit 
of the Group as a whole had been chronic over th e past years. Such deficit characterized LDCs’ 
trade in commercial services as well. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to the LDCs had 
been declining for the past three consecutive ye ars. Moreover, whatever limited amount of FDI 
that had been coming to LDCs was mostly targeted to extractive activities.   
12. He continued by saying that the share of primary products in the composition of LDC exports 
had been increasing over the years, accounting for 71% of LDC merchandise exports in 2011. This demonstrated the fact that LDCs, as a group, had been unable to diversify their export base. This had been a cause of concern for the 49 LDCs which were home to almost 15% of the world's 
population and merely accounted for 1.1% of world merchandise trade in 2011. The marginal 
improvement on the share of world merchandise trade from previous years was largely due to 
increase in commodity prices.   
13. He said that a number of countries, both developed and developing, had made concrete 
progress in providing DFQF market access to LDC products. Progress had also been registered with regard to conditions that accompany preferential market access, including rules of origin.  He 
thanked Members for their generous preferential schemes. Despite this progress, full realization of 
DFQF was yet to be achieved. He noted that 80%  of the value of imports from LDCs entered 
developed country markets duty free in 2010, out of which the proportion covered by true duty-free preferences was 53.5%.   
14. He emphasized the need for improved market a ccess for LDC products, especially in view of 
the high concentration of LDCs' export structure. At the same time, he stressed on the importance 
of addressing supply-side constraints and enhanc ing productive capacity in the LDCs. Improved 
market access and enhanced trade capacity would be instrumental in leveraging trade to advance 
overall developmental efforts in the LDCs.   
15. In conclusion, he said that the Note by the Secretariat was a reflection of the fact that LDCs 
had not yet been meaningfully integrated into  the multilateral trading system. Much more 
supportive measures were needed from trade and development partners of LDCs, including to meet the target set in the Istanbul Programme of Action to double the LDCs' share in world trade by 2020.  He said that the LDC Group would continue its constructive engagement to further 
examine and discuss the challenges faced by LDCs in  the expansion of their trade and to find ways 
and means of addressing them. 
16. The representative of the United States said th at the Note provided valuable insights on the 
export performance of the LDCs. He noted that the bulk of the data provided in the Note focused 
on developed countries' trade statistics and relied heavily on mirror statistics. He took note of the acknowledgement made in the Note of the limitations of using mirror data in analysing LDC trade. 
He hoped that the data constraints would be rectified in a future version of the Note, including 
through the transparency mechanism for preferenti al trade arrangements. He looked forward to 
reviewing the next version of the Secretariat Note on this topic. 
17. The representative of Australia said that his delegation had found the Note interesting as 
well as valuable. He noted the concern expressed by the LDCs on the challenges being faced by 
them, including in the diversification of their merchandise trade. In view of the growing importance of services trade, he wondered whether the Secretariat could elaborate more on the growing 
services sectors in LDCs as well as success stories associated with particular LDCs or sub-groups of 
LDCs in this area. He was of the view that an elab oration of the services section of the Note, to the 
extent permitted by data, would add further value to the content of it. 
18. The representative of Bangladesh noted that the trends of LDC trade demonstrated on the 
Note had been mixed, and not necessarily encourag ing for the LDCs as a group. The share of LDCs 
in world trade had been mostly static. A comparative analysis of data from different annual Secretariat studies revealed the fact that there had been very little improvements in LDC trade, 
both in qualitative as well as quantitative te rms. He underlined the need for having a deeper WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  examination of LDCs' trade, including their export  concentration, direction of trade as well as 
market access measures ta ken in favour of LDCs. 
19. The representative of the Solomon Islands noted that LDCs, as a group, had made some 
improvements in their merchandise trade over the la st decade. At the same time, he took note of 
the fact that the trade performance of LDCs had been mixed. He sought clarification with regard to 
the trade deficits registered by LDCs, in particular  the extent to which higher food and fuel prices 
might have contributed to those deficits.  
20. The representative of China expressed his firm commitment to the South-South cooperation 
within the framework of the multilateral trading system. Pointing to China's recent leadership 
transition, he said that the country's new leader had clearly stated that China could not develop itself in isolation from the world, and that China would continue to deepen mutually beneficial 
cooperation with the rest of the world.  
21. He noted that Chinese President XI Jinping had ended his first official tour of Africa in 
March 2013, and that he had made a steadfast commitment to the development of the LDCs. His 
Government had promised to give zero-tariff treatment to 97% of the tariff items of exports to 
China from the LDCs having diplomat ic ties with China, and relevant  measures in th is regard would 
be put in place by 2015. In addition, China would prioritize infrastructure construction in Africa 
within the framework of South-South cooperation and support Africa's integration. He indicated 
that the Chinese Government was willing to form a cooperative partnership for transnational and transregional infrastructure, and to help the African countries with the preliminary work of promoting connectivity and resource surveys, including consultation, planning, feasibility research 
and project design. He added that China would also help Africa to train 300 managing and 
technical personnel specialized in the field of infrastructure every year, and would encourage Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to play a part in the construction and management of 
the transnational and transregional infrastructure.  
22. He further recalled that the Chinese President in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 
Boao Forum (Hainan, China), had highlighted China's commitment to narrowing the North-South 
gap and to supporting other developing countries' efforts to enhance their capacity for 
self-development. Furthermore, China would maintain its robust growth momentum; its domestic demand, particularly its consumption-driven demand, would continue to grow, as would its outbound investment. Projections estimated that China's imports would total some US$10 trillion 
over the next five years, while its outbound investment would reach US$500 billion, and the 
number of its outbound tourists would exceed US$400 million. These would all create more development opportunities for developing countries and LDCs in particular. In concluding, he 
reminded Members that China remained the world' s largest developing country, and that it faced 
many challenges on its road to progress. Nevertheless, he stressed that China was committed to provide assistance commensurate with its capacity to other developing countries and LDCs for the 
pursuit of development and mutual prosperity.  
23. The representative of the European Union consid ered the previous discussion on the Note at 
the last meeting as useful. She equally apprecia ted the discussion on the updated trends in LDC 
trade. She made two points with regard to the next LDC market access study by the Secretariat. 
First, she suggested that the reasons for the evolut ion of LDCs' trade balances be examined in the 
next edition of the study; agreeing with the point made by the Secretariat that it was difficult to assess whether trade deficit experienced by a partic ular LDC should be labelled as a negative or a 
positive development without understanding what la y behind it. A deeper analysis in this regard 
could enlighten Members in understanding better th e reasons for trade deficit in LDCs. Second, she 
encouraged the Secretariat to provide greater de tails on the trends of LDC services trade, 
including possible analysis of services trade by mode and exploring the links between investment 
and services trade. She acknowledged the fact that  LDCs' services trade could not be captured to 
the same extent as merchandise trade, and that the limitations with regard to services data availability could be appropriately mentio ned in any future study on this topic. 
24. The representative of Senegal said that stagnant or declining trade balances represented a 
serious problem, as positive export trends were more than outstripped by rising imports by the 
LDCs. He pointed to LDCs' lack of manufacturing capacity as a major reason for their low level of 
export diversification, and called upon Members to find solutions to it. He also called for a greater 
emphasis on building the productive capacity of LDCs, cautioning that market access alone would WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  not be sufficient to enhance the participation of LDCs in world trade. He added that the existence 
of various market access initiatives had not been enough to reverse the trend of low participation of LDCs in world trade. 
25. The representative of the Secretariat echoed th e point made by Senegal that market access 
was not sufficient to promote exports, and that often high transport costs were one of the major 
factors in impeding LDC competitiveness. Admi nistrative and other non-tariff measures that 
undermined LDC exporters often arose from their ow n countries' customs services, rather than the 
destination countries' policies. He suggested that the 4th Global Review of Aid for Trade would 
discuss some of the difficulti es faced by LDC exporters. 
26. He acknowledged the data constraints in analysin g services trade. In response to Australia's 
request for specific examples of success stories in  LDC services trade, he pointed to Cambodia's 
experience with tourism services, and the succe ss even of small LDCs, such as Djibouti with 
transport services. As regards merchandise trade balances, he said that the sharp rise in LDCs' collective trade deficit in 2012 was the result of phenomenal import growth in 2012 (nearly 8%), 
while exports had increased only by a mere 1% . LDC oil exporters witnessed a fall of export 
revenues, due to a fall in oil prices, though volumes rose by 13%. Finally, he referred to the observation made by the representative of the European Union that a deficit might not represent a 
negative development under the right circumstances. In this regard, he urged Members to look 
beyond macroeconomic figures, since those figures could include food or humanitarian imports which LDCs received with aid money. 
27. The Chairman said that the next version of the LDC market access study by the Secretariat 
would take into account the views expressed during the meeting. He proposed that the 
Sub-Committee take note of the document contained in WT/COMTD/LDC/W/56/Rev.1, the presentation made by the Secretariat as well as the statements made. 
28. It was so agreed. 
C. TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY-BUILDING INITIATIVES 
FOR LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
- WTO Technical Assistance and Training to the Least-Developed Countries:  Oral Report 
by the Secretariat 
29. The Chairman recalled that according to the Work Programme for the LDCs, the 
Sub-Committee was required to monitor the WTO te chnical assistance support provided to the 
LDCs. Pursuant to this mandate, the Sub-Committ ee had been considering this item on an annual 
basis. He invited the Secretariat to make a report on this item.  
30. The representative of the Secretariat (ITTC) se t out the support which WTO provided to the 
beneficiary countries, and in particular the LDCs, in line with paragraph 19 of the 2012-2013 
Biennial Technical Assistance (TA) and Training Plan, contained in document WT/COMTD/W/180/Rev.1. LDCs, on average, had b een associated with 48% of all trade-related 
technical assistance (TRTA) delivered by the WTO.  Moreover, some of WTO's TRTA products were 
geared more specifically to LDCs, for example th e three-week introductory course for the LDCs. 
The LDC introductory course was an example of a level-one course, under the three levels of 
progressive learning strategy. Normally, level-one courses were carried out through e-learning, 
however, in recognition of the priority provided to LDCs, the WTO conducted this level one-course 
for LDCs as a face-to-face one, rather than as a virtual exercise.   
31. In 2012, the WTO conducted the LDC introduction course for English-speaking participants, 
where 24 out of 26 selected candidates participated. As regards the French-speaking LDCs, a 
similar course was scheduled from 9 to 27 September 2013. An innovation for this biennium was the advanced level-three course for LDCs. The Secretariat had consulted the LDC Group on the 
most desired and relevant topics for such a course which had led to the choice of a broad-based 
formula. Regrettably, the Secretariat had had to cancel one advanced LDC activity in Geneva intended for the French speaking LDCs in 2013, due to insufficient application. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  32. Speaking of priorities given to LDCs, he said that the LDCs were entitled to three national 
activities per year, instead of two provided to other beneficiaries. However, that number was rarely fully utilized by the LDCs. The Secretar iat was aware of some of the reasons for that 
under-utilization. Reference Centres too constitute d another TA product. Reference Centres were 
dedicated places in the beneficiary countries wh ich officials could use to train themselves in 
e-learning courses. At present, there were 100 Reference Centres in 92 countries. Forty-seven Reference Centres were situated in 37 LDC Members of the WTO, with some LDCs having several 
Reference Centres; this represented over 40% of total Reference Centres. Moreover, 14 Reference 
Centres had been established in the Permanent Missions of certain LDCs in Geneva. In 2013, the WTO had received requests for ten more Reference Centres, eight of which were to be established 
in LDCs. 
33. He went on to say that a third TA product geared towards the LDCs were the internship 
programmes. In 2013, there was a particularly high number of interns under the three available internship programmes:  the Netherlands Trainee Programme, the Mission Internship Programme 
and the Regional Coordinator Programme. Donors for these internship programmes included: 
Denmark, France, Ireland and the Netherlands.  The WTO's Global Trust Fund supported the 
Regional Coordinatorship Programme. He said that contributions from donors was much 
appreciated as it enabled the Secretariat to fund an increasing number of interns from LDCs. In 
the past eight years, some 70% of the interns benefitting from the Netherlands Training Programme came from the LDCs. The figure was 40% for the Mission Internship Programme, while the percentage for the Regional Coordinator Programme hovered between 40 to 45%. He informed 
Members, that in 2013, three quarters of the Netherlands Internship Programme trainees were 
from LDCs, while the figure was 60% for the Mission Internship Programme; and one third of the Regional Coordinator Programme came from the LDCs. 
34. Priority to the LDCs was also given in terms of the technical assistance related to the Trade 
Policy Reviews (TPRs). A process of needs assessments had been introduced to gauge the TRTA needs. He referred to WTO's e-learning courses. Co mpletion of the introductory e-learning course 
was often a condition for qualifying for any face-to-face training. Most of the e-learning courses 
were at level-one, while some we re at higher levels. Through the Reference Centres, the LDCs had 
been able to benefit more from the e-learning courses than ever before. In 2012, one quarter of the total number of participants for e-learning courses came from the LDCs. A total of 70% 
participants from LDCs received a certificate, me aning a successful conclusion of the course at a 
sufficiently high score. Since 2011, the number of e-learning participants had nearly doubled.   
35. In conclusion, he said that the Secretariat was currently engaged in the process of preparing 
the next biennial TA plan for 2014-2015. The main  objective was to ensure that the Plan be 
needs-driven, with the Membership indicating what  it wanted the Plan to cover in the next two 
years. The ITTC had undertaken a Secretariat-wide consultation on the most useful and relevant 
way of delivering TRTA to the beneficiaries. The next step would be consultations with the 
Membership, which would include regional groupi ngs, including the LDC Group. He drew the 
attention of Members to the questionnaires sent to delegations and requested them to fill out those questionnaires so as to help the Secretaria t design a TA Plan to better serve the beneficiary 
countries. 
36. The representative of Nepal, on behalf of the LDC Group, reiterated that technical assistance 
and training was an important component of the development dimension of the WTO. He 
appreciated that priority had been attached to th e LDCs in the overall implementation of the TA 
Plan, and also the fact that resources were being channelled where it was mostly needed. He was encouraged to note that LDCs' participation in training and technical cooperation had increased, 
and hoped that it would increase further in keeping with their huge and unique needs and 
requirements.  
37. He went on to say that various internship programmes of the WTO had proved to be useful 
for the LDC governments. Since officials of most of the LDC Missions were small-sized, additional 
human resources were required for their effective participation in the activities of the WTO. He 
thanked Members which had contributed to the in ternship programmes, and underscored the need 
for its further expansion. He also underlined the importance of e-learning courses which he hoped 
would continue in the future.   WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  38. He was pleased to learn that the process for the preparation of the 2014-15 biennial TA Plan 
had commenced. He hoped that beneficiary countries  and other stakeholders would be adequately 
involved in the process of finalizing the Plan. In  this regard, he appreciated the efforts of the 
Secretariat to involve the LDCs in the preparation of the TA Plan. He stressed that all useful past 
programmes should continue in the next biennial TA Plan, and that it should have space to cope 
with the possible outcome of the upcoming Ministerial Conference. 
39. In conclusion, he pointed to the low utilization of national technical-assistance activities by 
the LDCs which were entitled to have three such activities per year. He invited the Secretariat to 
consider allocating some resources for carrying out national activities in LDCs. He believed that such allocation would encourage LDCs to make op timal use of this component of the TA Plan and 
that it would address the situation of under-utilization of national activities. 
40. The representative of Angola said that his country had benefitted from the WTO's technical 
assistance, in particular the three national activities that each LDC was entitled per year. However, 
he noted that officials from Lusophone countries, es pecially capital-based ones had difficulty with 
courses conducted in French or in English. In st atistical terms, Portuguese-speaking countries had 
benefited the least from WTO's training programmes. Candidates often failed to meet the linguistic requirements of the Netherlands Trainee or other internship programmes. He reiterated Angola's 
call for organizing occasional trainings/meetings aimed specifically at Lusophone African countries. 
He also highlighted the challenges of LDCs, like Angola, in taking advantage of e-learning, since 
electricity and internet coverage were both sporadic. His own Ministry's Reference Centre was often dysfunctional in view of lack of electricity. 
41. The representative of China said that in July 2011, his Government had donated 
US$400,000 to establish "China’s LDCs and Accessions Programme" to strengthen LDCs' 
participation in the WTO activities and to help ease acceding countries join the Organization. This 
programme comprised three pillars/components: WTO Accessions Internship Programme; support 
for WTO accession round-table meetings; and support for participation of LDCs in WTO meetings of priority for them. All these components were being implemented in a smooth manner, with the 
joint efforts of his Government, the Secretariat and other relevant parties. He went on to elaborate 
the activities being undertaken in those components. First, he said that LDC candidates were chosen for internship in the Accession Division of the Secretariat. Second, a round-table meeting on LDC Accession entitled "Best Practices in the WTO Accession Process" funded by this 
programme was successfully held in Beijing in 2012. Third, the cotton-4 (C4) countries were 
funded to attend the meetings of the Director -General’s Consultative Framework Mechanism on 
Cotton. The delegation of Vanuatu was funded last year to attend the General Council meeting on 
its accession. 
42. He said that following the successful implementation of the programme in the first year, his 
Government had renewed its contribution of US$400,000 in July 2012 to extend the programme 
for another year. He sincerely hoped that, with the assistance of the Secretariat, as well as the 
fruitful cooperation from other Members, this programme could continue to achieve its goal in contributing to increased familiarization by LDCs with the accession process and WTO rules and procedures, thereby facilitating their WTO membership and participation. 
43. The representative of Solomon Islands expressed appreciation to donors for their support in 
WTO's technical assistance. He expressed concerns similar to those voiced by Angola about 
e-learning, since his country, like many LDCs, had difficulties with internet access – and that, in 
turn, made it difficult for candidates applying to participate in WTO training courses to meet the 
requirement of having first completed the e-learning course. He inquired as to whether the WTO could be flexible in terms of accepting candidates who might not have completed the e-learning 
programmes, and instead provide them with a crash course on WTO basics upon their arrival in 
Geneva. 
44. He thanked the Secretariat for recently accepting his authorities' nomination with regard to 
mission internship programme. However, he expressed concern with the requirement of the 
completion of e-learning courses as a precondition for selecting mission interns. He requested that 
nominations from his Government for mission interns be considered in a flexible manner, which would enable officials to access the trainings and help strengthen the capacity in the missions to 
deal with multilateral trade issues. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  45. The representative of New Zealand said that the presentation by the Secretariat had 
provided a useful recap of the various products und er the TA Plan available to LDCs. It was also 
useful for her delegation to get an update on the utilization of such products by the LDCs. She was encouraged to note that priority was accorded to the LDCs in the delivery of WTO's TRTA. She 
noted that technical assistance was available to conduct needs assessment in LDCs, including in 
the context of TPRs. Since the frequency of LDC TP Rs had been low, as compared to the cycle of 
biennial TA plans, she wondered if there was scope under current TA arrangements for those 
needs assessments to be updated between one TPR and the next to help LDCs update their 
priorities and feed them into biennial TA plans. 
46. The representative of Lesotho echoed the observation made by Angola concerning the 
challenges faced by LDCs with internet access und ermining the benefits from e-learning courses. 
He pointed out that internet connectivity could affect completion of online courses in time. He 
requested a clarification as to a scenario where in case a candidate could not complete an online course in time, whether he/she would need to wa it three months to re-enrol himself/herself for 
that course in question.   
47. The representative of Tanzania expressed appreciation for the Secretariat's technical 
assistance and capacity-building programmes undertaken in favour of LDCs. However, he 
expressed concern with the change of the Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) policy for 
participants attending WTO regional seminars/workshops.  The new approach of paying participants after they had attended the activities in question had had an adverse impact on participation, particularly from the LDCs. He argued to revert to the former policy whereby 
participants were paid at the meeting time, and requested that such policy be reflected in the next 
biennial TA Plan (2014-2015). He hoped that the Secretariat would revisit the change of the DSA policy. 
48. The representative of Mozambique endorsed the point made by Angola relating to linguistic 
challenges faced by Lusophone countries. For the last couple of years, his country had failed to 
benefit from WTO courses. The training opportunities missed had had an impact on the officials 
dealing with WTO matters. He called upon Members to examine this lacuna so as to help find a 
solution whereby his country can regularly benefit from WTO TRTA. 
49. The representative of the Secretariat (ITTC) urge d Members to fill out the questionnaire sent 
to them. He pointed out that a number of regional seminars in the past two years had had to be 
cancelled because of the insufficient number of qualified participants. In response to a question 
from Tanzania, he said that the current DSA policy had been taken by the WTO management in view of financial and security consideration. Ne vertheless, he would pass on the concerns of 
Tanzania to the management.  
50. He noted that several delegations had raised the issue of internet connectivity, posing a 
problem for the online courses. While the Secretariat was aware of these concerns in many 
countries, there was little it could do about it, other than assisting in identifying the right office to 
establish the Reference Centre. For example, the Chambers of Commerce often had a good internet connection. In response to the concerns raised by the Lusophone countries, he said that the Secretariat had been trying its best to addre ss it with pragmatic solutions; whenever possible 
Portuguese-speaking WTO staff was being sent to national seminars in Lusophone countries. He 
recalled that the three official languages in the WTO were French, English and Spanish.   
51. Responding to the comments from the representa tive of the Solomon Islands, he noted that 
the Secretariat considered applications from LDCs for internships or WTO activities in a flexible 
manner; in the selection of candidates, special emphasis was being put on officials having relevant background on WTO. Many of the interns accepted were being requested to undertake an 
e-learning course while doing their internship in the Secretariat. 
52. In response to the question from New Zealand on the needs assessment as an integral part 
of the TPR, he noted that one of the assignments given every year to the interns was to undertake 
a needs assessment for their respective countries. He noted that all 40 interns currently in Geneva 
were working on their countries' needs assessments, which might help their governments 
articulating their TA needs. With regard to the question from Lesotho, he said that the e-learning WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  process was an open one, whereby one could enter at any time, with fewer time restrictions to 
complete.   
53. He expressed appreciation for China's contri butions, especially for the LDC accession 
programme. He looked forward to continuing cooper ation with the Government of China to further 
enhance the trade capacity building of LDCs. 
54. The representative of Tanzania said that the cancellation of some regional events was not 
necessarily due to lack of demand from beneficiary countries, as had been noted by the 
Secretariat. He reiterated the importance of prov iding participants with per diems at the beginning 
of seminars, suggesting that there was no need for Se cretariat officials to travel with large sums of 
money, and that whatever transmission mechan isms were used two weeks after a particular 
seminar or workshop could simply be used in advance.  
55. The Chairman suggested that the issues raised by the representative of Tanzania be further 
taken up in a meeting between the LDC Group and the Secretariat. He encouraged the LDCs to 
make the maximum use of the products offered by the Secretariat. He proposed that the 
Sub-Committee take note of the oral report by the Secretariat as well as the statements made.  
56. It was so agreed. 
D. UPDATE OF THE WTO WORK PROGRAMME  FOR THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/11) 
57. The Chairman  drew Members' attention to the work concerning the update of the WTO Work 
Programme for the LDCs. He recalled that the previous Coordinator of the LDC Group had 
requested more time to prepare for this work. He invited the present Coordinator of the LDC Group 
to share the Group's views on this item.  
58. The representative of Nepal, on  behalf of the LDC Group, re called  that the WTO Work 
Programme for Least-Developed Countries (WT/COMTD/LDC/11) was devised in 2002 in line with a 
mandate from the Doha Ministerial Conference. Noting that the Work Programme had provided 
useful thematic guidance to the Sub-Committee's wo rk, he said that while the key systemic issues 
facing LDCs reflected in it were still relevant, there was a need for some factual updates: for 
instance, the existing Work Programme referred to  the outcome of the 2001 Third UN Conference 
on LDCs and the trade-related elements of the Brussels Programme of Action, and not the more 
up-to-date Istanbul Programme of Action for LDCs for 2011-2020 as adopted by the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs. Similarly, the Integrated Framework had become the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework (EIF); and the General Council had in  2012 taken an important decision to further 
strengthen, streamline and operationalize the 2002 Guidelines on LDC Accession.  
59. He called upon Members to expedite the process of updating the Work Programme, which 
had been put on hold for some time. He indicated that the LDC Group had already proposed 
updates in a room document that was available in  the meeting room. Recalling that the previous 
session of the Sub-Committee had recognized the need for updates, he asked Members to give 
positive consideration to the proposed changes by the LDC Group, and indicated that the Group 
stood prepared to engage in consultations, as  early as possible, to finalize the updates. 
60. The representative of the United States  took note of the LDC Group's submission. He 
reiterated the views of his delegation that certain technical updates to the current Work 
Programme were needed to reflect some changes o ccurred since the adoption of the initial version 
in 2002. However, some changes proposed by the LDC Group were substantive in nature. Those changes were of concern to his delegation. He expressed support for the Chairman's call for an 
informal meeting to discuss the proposed ch anges by the LDC Group in greater details. 
61. The Chairman informed Members that he planne d to hold informal meetings on the update 
work of the Work Programme, starting from 24 April. Invitations would be sent to delegations in 
due course. He proposed that the Sub-Committee take note of the statements made. 
62. It was so agreed. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/68 
 
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  E. RETREAT OF THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND, 
18-20 OCTOBER 2012: COMMUNICATION FROM NEPAL, ON BEHALF OF THE LDC GROUP (WT/COMTD/LDC/22) 
63. The Chairman recalled that the LDCs held a Retreat in October 2012 to draw up possible 
deliverables for the Bali Ministerial Conference. The outcome of the Retreat was circulated as 
document WT/COMTD/LDC/22. He invited th e LDC Coordinator to take the floor. 
64. The representative of Nepal, on behalf of th e LDC Group, recalled that the LDC Group had 
held a retreat on 18-20 October 2012, under Haiti's coordination, to review the Group's priorities 
and interests, with respect to the work of re gular WTO bodies and negotiating sessions. The 
Group's objective was to chart a way forward to adva nce issues of interest to the LDCs through the 
Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference and beyond. He thanked the delegation of Haiti for successfully 
organizing the retreat. He also acknowledged the assistance received from Trade Mark Southern 
Africa, ILEAP, ICTSD and other organizations, as well as the WTO Secretariat. 
65. He said that the substantive issues deliberated during the Retreat included: services trade 
and the operationalization of LDC Services Wa iver; Trade Facilitation; TRIPS, including the 
extension of the Article 66.1 transition period for LDCs and the effective implementation of 
Article 66.2; DFQF Market Access in favour of LD Cs; agriculture, with a specific focus on food 
security and cotton; technical assistance and capaci ty building, with a specific focus on the EIF and 
Aid for Trade; and accession.  
66. He called Members' attention to the Chair's Summary of the meeting, issued as document 
WT/COMTD/LDC/22, which contained a list of priority issues for LDCs in preparation for Bali. In 
this context, he said that the LDC Group wa s encouraged by the announcement made by WTO 
Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his capacity as the Chairman of TNC, to appoint the Chairman of the Sub-Committee - Ambassador Smidt (Denmark) - as Facilitator to advance LDC deliverables 
for Bali. He expressed hope that Ambassador Smidt would be able to take on this responsibility 
and looked forward to work with him. 
67. In closing, he expressed hope that the Sub-Committee had taken note of the issues that the 
LDCs would like to achieve at Bali, given that the Sub-Committee was a forum for holistically 
looking at issues of particular importance to LDCs in the multilateral trading system. He requested that the Sub-Committee periodically monitor the progress of LDC deliverables for Bali, stressing that the Ministerial Conference would be meaningless if it did not deliver on core LDCs issues, 
which were broadly recognized as the best candidat es for an early harvest. He reiterated that the 
Sub-Committee had a critical role to play in order to ensure that longstanding issues on the LDCs’ agenda become the candidates for an outcome in Bali.   
68. The Chairman proposed that the Sub-Committee ta ke note of the statement made by Nepal, 
on behalf of the LDC Group. He invited Members to  take note of possible deliverables that the LDC 
Group had been striving to achieve by Bali. 
69. It was so agreed. 
F. OTHER BUSINESS 
70. All delegations that took the floor congratulated the Chairman on his re-election. 
71. The Chairman thanked Members for placing their trust in him to continue chairing the 
Sub-Committee. 
72. The Chairman said that the next meeting of  the Sub-Committee was tentatively scheduled 
for the end of June. The exact date would be communicated in due course. 
73. In the absence of any other business, the meeting was adjourned. 
 
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