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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 27 FEBRUARY 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/260 
27 February 2006 
 
(06-0828) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: DJIBOUTI 
Progress has been made in stabilizing the economy; further 
reforms would help diversification 
The reforms undertaken by Djibouti following its civil war (1991-1994) have enabled it to 
somewhat stabilize its economy but the lack of diversification into areas other than services, mostly port activities, renders the country particularly vulnerable to external shocks, according to 
a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Djibouti. 
 Djibouti’s capacity to attract foreign direct investment is still limited by several factors, including 
weaknesses in the legal and judiciary systems, lack  of transparency in the taxation system, weak 
infrastructural facilities, and delayed implementation of policies.  
The report calls for structural and taxation reform s, and the strengthening of Djibouti’s multilateral 
commitments, mainly on services, to make its trade regime more predictable and credible; such reforms would help to attract the foreign investment needed to diversify the economy. The 
international community could contribute to the success of the reforms by according special 
attention to Djibouti’s technical assistance needs, according to the report.  
The report. along with a policy statement by the Go vernment of Djibouti, will be the basis for the 
first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Djibouti by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 27 
February and 1 March 2006. 
 
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/tp260.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/260 
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: 
United States : 13 and 15 March 2006 
China : 4 and 6 April 2006 
United Arab Emirates : 24 and 26 April 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