PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 2 NOVEMBER 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/255 
2 November 2005 
 
(05-5033) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: BOLIVIA 
The trade regime has improved but greater predictability is 
needed 
Since its last review in 1999, Bolivia has moderniz ed and simplified its trade policy but economic 
growth has been sluggish and investment trends  have proved disappointing, according to a WTO 
Secretariat Report on the Trade Policies and Practices of Bolivia. 
 
The report notes that it is of critical importance for Bolivia to increase investment, including foreign investment, in order to enhance productivity and promote growth. Bolivia could make 
significant headway in that direction if it improved the predictability of its trade and investment 
regime by undertaking broader multilateral commitments to consolidate the considerable liberalization steps it has already taken. 
 
This could include new commitments under the GATS. Although Bolivia has bound all its tariffs, predictability would be further enhanced by narrowing the gap between applied and bound tariffs. 
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by th e Government of Bolivia, will be the basis for 
the third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Bolivia by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 2 
and 3 November 2005. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp255.htm  
 • Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 PRESS/TPRB/255 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Romania : 28 and 30 November 2005 
Malaysia: 16 and 18 January 2006 
Djibouti : 27 February 1 March 2006 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END