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Press Release –
October 2009
<<Archive
Research Backed
Practice Essential for Equitable Trading Systems: Director
of WTO’s Development Division
New Delhi, October 02, 2009
For an equitable and just world
trading system, trade policy formulation and practice should
be founded on research which takes into account ground
realities in developing countries and specific needs of
vulnerable groups, said Shishir Priyadarshi, Director of the
Development Division of WTO. He commended the efforts of NGOs
involved in such research initiatives and highlighted their
usefulness for WTO’s functioning.
Priyadarshi was speaking at a
conference in Geneva titled ‘Improving Ownership through Trade
Policy Making Process: Lessons from Africa’ organised by CUTS
Geneva Resource Centre on 1 October 2009. A volume capturing
the first research results of the CUTS project, ‘Fostering
Equity and Accountability of Trading Systems (FEATS)’ was
released by him followed by a discussion among an audience of
trade policy experts and researchers.
Delivering the inaugural address
on behalf of Mr. Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary General of
UNCTAD, Mina Mashayekhi, Officer-in-charge, Division on
International Trade in Goods and Services said that the FEATS
initiative is a unique research programme to study the
inclusiveness of various stakeholders in the trade policy
making process in select African States. The study, he added,
had been conducted very methodically with the development of
an index for measuring inclusiveness. He called for its
application to other developing and developed countries to
identify and alleviate the deficiencies in trade policies and
thereby help reap the full benefits of trade.
H. E. Maurice Kagimu Kiwanuka,
Ambassador of Uganda and H. E. Brave R. Ndisale, Ambassador of
Malawi chaired the detailed discussion sessions on the FEATS
study results and the agenda for the second phase of research.
Researchers from five project countries presented the
objectives and methodology for the proposed research,
incorporating constructive comments from the audience about
how to best evaluate linkages among agriculture, food
security, trade facilitation and rural livelihoods. About 50
delegates from various countries participated in the
deliberations.
For further
information please contact:
Atul Kaushik,
Director, CUTS Geneva Resource Centre,
ak@cuts.org
(Mobile: +41.787698551)
Siddhartha
Mitra, Director (Research), CUTS International, Jaipur,
sm2@cuts.org
(Mobile: +91.9783398920)
Address Marginalisation of Low Income Economies, Says
Indian Ambassador to WTO
New Delhi, October 01, 2009
Marginalisation of low income
economies in the multilateral trade policy making process and
in international efforts to contain the ongoing economic
crisis is an unaddressed challenge in the contemporary global
dialogue. Participation of the disadvantaged countries at the
national, regional and multilateral levels is critical for
reaping the full benefits of trade liberalisation. These were
the words of H. E. Ujal Singh Bhatia, Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of India to the WTO, at the WTO Public Forum,
2009 held in Geneva on 30th September.
Mr. Bhatia was moderating a
session titled ‘New and Old Challenges to Inclusiveness in a
Recessionary Global Economic System’ hosted by CUTS
International in collaboration with Commonwealth Secretariat,
London. The session, in accordance with the Public Forum’s
overall objective of finding ‘Global Solutions for Global
Problems’, focused on improving inclusiveness in trade policy
making and implementation, particularly in times of economic
crisis, to safeguard interests of stakeholders from developing
countries.
Speaking on the occasion, H. E.
Matern Yakobo Lumbanga, Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of Tanzania to the WTO and Coordinator of the
LDC Group, emphasised the need for removing supply side
bottlenecks in developing countries through well planned long
term investments instead of relying on development aid. Such
investments are crucial for empowering weak stakeholders and
thereby mainstreaming trade better into the economic
development of these countries.
H. E. Darligton Mwape, Ambassador
and Permanent Representative of Zambia, explained the long and
evolving process of making Zambia’s trade policy more
inclusive and feeding it seamlessly into the country’s broader
development strategy.
During discussions the
participants highlighted the need for Parliamentarians to
focus on trade policies as much as purely domestic issues
relevant for their constituencies. The ranking of select
African Countries by CUTS through its ‘inclusive trade policy
index’ was appreciated and a demand came from the floor to
apply the same to other developing countries as well as
developed Countries.
For further
information please contact:
Atul Kaushik,
Director, CUTS Geneva Resource Centre,
ak@cuts.org
(Mobile: +41.787698551)
Siddhartha
Mitra, Director (Research), CUTS International, Jaipur,
sm2@cuts.org
(Mobile: +91.9783398920)
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