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Address Marginalisation of Low Income Economies, Says India's Ambassador to WTO
Thesynergyonline Economic Bureau,  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 September 30.

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.

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