ࡱ> EGD @ #bjbjPP (:::r%B B B 8z < > " $*R|rc cc c  c %L8B  0>p d?= Z DB 1B REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA STATEMENT OF HON. DR. HAGE GEINGOB, MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY OF NAMIBIA AT THE 7TH ϲʹ MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, 02 DECEMBER 2009, 10H40. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General; Distinguished Delegates, It is an honour to address this Conference. I also thank our host, Switzerland, and the ϲʹ Secretariat, for the excellent arrangements. We have the opportunity to change the global trading system, and thereby improve the livelihood of the people we represent. We have been hit by a succession of negative events, ranging from the food crisis to the energy crisis, the financial crisis, all of which have culminated to become the global economic crisis. In many developing countries the gains in economic growth have been eradicated through the effects of a financial system allowed to operate without adequate controls in the developed world. Mr. Chairman, The ϲʹ has been in existence for 14 years and it has played an important role in bringing stability and coherence in the global trading system. This is laudable but this is not enough. Confidence in the system is eroding very fast given its conduct of establishing exclusive elitist clubs of small configurations and groupings in the negotiating theatre at the expense of the majority. The current system needs to be reformed to ensure inclusivity, transparency and political ownership of our efforts and results. Perhaps a starting point for the ϲʹ Members to restore confidence in the system would be to restore decision-making in a multilateral setting through the General Council. ϲʹ is and must remain a member driven organization. The ϲʹ Appellate Body, which has at times been using the negative consensus stipulation to engage in rule-making and creating new obligations under the pretence of interpretation, should be reminded that such mandates lie with the Ministerial Conferences and the General Council. Mr. Chairman, It is my firm belief that the international trading community and the multilateral trading system have to intensify their efforts to accelerate the integration of developing countries, particularly African countries, into the global economy. Unless we bring African nations, most of which are least-developed, into the global economy, we will never enjoy full economic and social justice. Our major imperative is to meet the development aspirations of our people, so that we can reduce poverty and provide for the citizens the basics of food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare and jobs. This is a simple statement, but a complex challenge. Trade is, and could continue to be an important means of achieving these crucial goals of development. Mr. Chairman, While the multilateral trading system has worked and served international trade well, it has not sufficiently served the interests of the weak and vulnerable economies like Namibia. In this regard, we wish to express the following concerns that should be examined when we are reviewing the activities of the ϲʹ, including the Doha negotiations: - uneven distribution of benefits in the multilateral trading system which could risk the marginalizing of small developing countries in the global economy; - inadequate flexibility in the use of appropriate trade policy instruments to address our development challenges; - implementation problems we experience due to our inadequate institutional and regulatory capacities at national levels; - insufficient capacity and supply-side constraints which have prevented Africa from fully exploiting market access opportunities. In this regard, Aid for Trade is a welcome initiative from the ϲʹ Director-General but its delivery is inadequate; - enhancing Africa's participation in ϲʹ policy-making processes and building the necessary trade capacities; and, - support for the regional integration process in Africa. Mr. Chairman, Let me elaborate further on the latter aspect of regional integration. Namibia believes that regionalism is an important building block for developing countries to integrate in the world economy. However, regionalism should be guided by an enforceable set of rules. The ϲʹ should therefore establish concrete operational sets of rules that would govern regional integration with the view to align regional integration initiatives with multilateral rule-making. The lack of clear rules and sometimes arbitrary interpretations of existing and insufficient ϲʹ rules in this area, by some powerful members of this organization, have led to a situation where smaller economies are being coerced in signing bilateral agreements that go beyond the multilateral disciplines in fear of loss of market access and trade preferences. This is not a sustainable partnership model and we all have to be treated like equal parties. The world has changed and we all have a contribution to make that could make global prosperity a reality, and indeed, commensurate with our individual technical, financial and trade capacities. Mr. Chairman, On the ϲʹ negotiations, the Doha Development Agenda negotiations are arguably the most complex and difficult yet undertaken, but Members agreed to take up this challenge and pressed on vigorously with the negotiations. A development Round should yield real gains in peoples lives, as well as tangible benefits for developing countries in whose favour the development content of the Round was earmarked. Likewise, this should enable them to industrialize, generate wealth and employment opportunities and ensure that trade contributes to poverty eradication and galvanize our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The litmus test for such a development outcome is to look beyond the principle of single undertaking which suggest that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and deliver an early harvest development package that addresses the concerns of cotton producers, least developed countries, settle the issue of preference erosion, special and differential treatment and address all outstanding implementation issues. Therefore, we call upon all members to rekindle the spirit of unity and collectively resolve to conclude the Round in 2010 and show the world that the ϲʹ is alive and can deliver development-friendly policies for the global trading system. The time is now. Mr. Chairman, On Aid for Trade, Namibia welcomes the commitments made by our development partners including the G20 Summit to avail an additional US$1.1 trillion program aimed at revitalizing the world economy. Namibia calls for the immediate fulfillment of these commitments to help bring the world economy back on the growth path. Finally, to sustain and accelerate progress, decisive actions need to be taken at global, regional and country levels. Trade can be an engine for growth, with sound and targeted investments at all these levels, so that we address the large gaps in our countries and meet the needs of the poor and most vulnerable. I thank you all.     PAGE  PAGE 1 Dkmoƴƴ|kZIZ8 hGh{CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhRCJOJQJ^JaJ hGh5/CJOJQJ^JaJ#hGhR5CJOJQJ^JaJ#hGht5CJOJQJ^JaJ&hGh5CJH*OJQJ^JaJ#hGh5CJOJQJ^JaJ#hGh{5CJOJQJ^JaJ&hGh5/5>*CJOJQJ^JaJ&hGh{5>*CJOJQJ^JaJ    $ % QR $dha$gdiQ7$dh&dPa$gdiQ7dhgdiQ7 $dha$gdiQ7r##    3 : ? W p    Ｋxxx͉xx͉g͉gVx hGh{SCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhiQ7CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhSIECJOJQJ^JaJ hGhezCJOJQJ^JaJ hGh CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhwDCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhRCJOJQJ^JaJ hGh{CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ!  1 [ \ " # $ % , PQZj:;Iep=Xc͚͚͉ͫxxxxxxxxg hGh*\CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh \CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhl CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhiQ7CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh*CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhwDCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhRCJOJQJ^JaJ(R4<=K,- $dha$gdiQ7 $dha$gdiQ7c}67KW !cdLY]^blps3(;<=@A:=gkKQ޼ޫޫޫޫޫޚ޼މ hGh \CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh]'NCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhPCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhh\CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhZ6CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhiQ7CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh*\CJOJQJ^JaJ612}I+07"8QyͼͫxgxVxVxVxxx hGh{CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh.CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh+CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhl CJOJQJ^JaJ hGh'CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhwDCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhZ6CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhRCJOJQJ^JaJ y$ & !!!8!""""a#r#s#u#v#x#y#ͼ͚xxgxxxUMIMIMhn jhn U#hGhH5CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhl CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhHCJOJQJ^JaJ hGh CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhiQ7CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhwDCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhyCJOJQJ^JaJ hGhCJOJQJ^JaJ hGh*CJOJQJ^JaJ hGhezCJOJQJ^JaJ %"&"`#a#r#t#u#w#x#z#{#}#~######### &`#$gdy" $dha$gdiQ7y#{#|#~################hGhH5CJOJQJ^JaJh}-0JmHnHuh.N h.N0Jjh.N0JUjhn Uhn &1h:ph/ =!"#$%@@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No List 4 @4 {Footer  !.)@. { Page NumberHH 5/ Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJB^@"B iQ7 Normal (Web)dd[$\$B'1B hComment ReferenceCJaJ<B< h Comment TextCJaJ@jAB@ hComment Subject5\ :$%QR4   <=K,-%&`ar;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;000x0x0x0x0x0x0x00x0x0x0x0x000x0x0x0x0x00x0x00x0x0x0x0x0x0x00{00 {00{00@0@0 0  $$$' cyy##R ##  '!!8@0(  B S  ?Q\bQ U!Qԅ"Q%QbQlcQuQQcQbQ\'{QiQu!QQ̤eQQ Q?@ABCFRoot Entry F X8HData 1Table&WordDocument(:SummaryInformation(4DocumentSummaryInformation8<CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q