ࡱ> hjg7 YbjbjUU "n7|7|L0 l@0...B84B8@@"bxxxxxW8Y8Y8Y8Y8Y8Y8$:  =}8.xxxxx}8d..xx8dddx$.x.xW8dxW8dt d3..8x4 DBr 68<8086=<(=8dBB....Multilateral trade agreements and their impact on women entrepreneurs Paper presented at ϲʹ Public Symposium on Multilateralism at a crossroads on 27 May 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland by Christine A. Agimba, Chairperson, OWIT-Nairobi Introduction This paper is presented as a contribution to the discussions by the panel that will look at the impact of women in small, medium and micro-enterprises on increasing trade under ϲʹ Agreements, while specifically exploring the impact of women entrepreneurs on increasing trade; the impact of the ϲʹ Agreements on women in Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and initiatives to assist women increase trade under the ϲʹ Agreements. Kenyas trade policies and the Kenyan position on ϲʹ Agreements No current global issue is as complex and involves as many competing interests and conflicting interpretations as that concerning globalization, and internationalization of trade and investment. This will be abundantly clear as this ϲʹ Public symposium focuses on Multilateralism at Crossroads. For developing countries such as Kenya, the discussion on economic recovery strategy is currently focusing on poverty reduction through encouraging increased international trade and investment. The thrust of the Governments policy on trade is to create an environment that is conducive to promoting Kenyan products in the international market. Through multilateral, regional and preferential trading agreements, the Government aims at ensuring easier access to international markets for Kenyan products, and to encourage foreign direct investment. To this end Kenya has put several policies in place. Some of the major investment incentives include export programmes and market access agreements. Exports from Kenya enjoy preferential access to world markets under a number of special access and duty reduction programmes. Intra-regional trade in on the increase as Kenya has access the regional markets through her membership in East African Community (comprising Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with a population of about 80 million), and also through her membership in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) with a population of about 380 million. Exports and imports within member countries enjoy preferential tariff rates. The European Union under the ACP/Cotonou Agreement is Kenyas largest trading partner, and export products such as industrial products and a wide range of agricultural products including beef, fish, dairy products, cereals, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables enjoy preferential market access. Kenya qualifies for duty free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) enacted by USA. Kenya's major products that qualify for export under AGOA include textiles, apparels and handicrafts. Under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), a wide range of Kenya's manufactured products are entitled to preferential duty treatment in the United States of America, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, and other European countries. In addition, no quantitative restrictions are applicable to Kenyan exports on any of the 3,000-plus items currently eligible for GSP treatment. Kenya has participated in the multilateral trading system through GATT and ϲʹ with the objective of achieving effective access to markets, and supports the role of ϲʹ in strengthening the multilateral trading system. While recognizing the role that ϲʹ plays in promoting a rules-based, freer and predictable trading environment through the removal of barriers to trade, the official position of the government is that Kenya will continue to participate effectively in negotiations under the ϲʹ as this is an important forum to ensure that Kenyas interests are taken into account and continually improve market access for her products. This does not mean that Kenya does not have concerns over the agreements being negotiated and implemented under the auspices of the ϲʹ. A key concern is that market access for Kenyas agricultural products is constrained by export subsidies, and Kenyan products are therefore not able to compete on a level playing field. Dumping is also a concern. Another concern is the deteriorating terms of trade, as the increase in the value of trade is not matched by a corresponding increase in export earnings. Kenya therefore acknowledges that concrete steps should be taken to appropriately integrate Kenya and other developing countries into the multilateral trading system, especially as increased trade is seen as strategy to accelerate economic growth and ensure poverty reduction. Kenya is nonetheless committed to implementing her obligations and responsibilities under the ϲʹ Agreements, and is in the process of bringing her traderelated laws in conformity with ϲʹ rules and regulations. Noteworthy is the considerable progress Kenya has made in implementing her obligations under TRIPS, and has amended her intellectual property legislation to bring it in line with the minimum requirements under TRIPS. We will look closer at this later in the discussion, when we shall observe that this is one of the ϲʹ Agreements that has had an impact on Kenyan women entrepreneurs. Gender and Trade Following on from that brief overview of Kenyas trade policies, the question then would be do trade liberalization policies and practices as advocated by ϲʹ and as pursued by Kenya, have gender dimensions? Can we identify gender based inequalities within the trade framework under ϲʹϒs multilateral trading arrangements? There has been research carried out focusing on the linkages between gender disparities and international trade in sub-Saharan Africa.4 Clones notes that Trade policies and practices.have different effects on men and women, particularly in the African economies, because of the differences in the roles, responsibilities, rights and opportunities that society assigns to men and women. It makes economic sense therefore to pay attention to these gender differences in order to maximize the effectiveness of trade. Many of the studies on gender-inequalities in international trade have looked at the impact in selected industries such as the apparel and horticultural industries, where there are predominantly women, and have focused on issues such as womens access to income earning opportunities, employment, remuneration, access and control over resources, education and training. However, there has been insufficient attention and research into understanding the impact of increased trade opportunities through the multilateral trading system for Kenyan women in SMMES. Womens efforts and their contribution to Kenyas economy is often not given due recognition, as there is no gender-desegregated data to support this. It is therefore difficult to analyze this aspect in Kenya. It is only when we have the necessary information, that we can then analyze Kenyas trade and development policies from a gender prospective, and ask questions such as: Whether the Governments trade and investment policies and strategies for poverty reduction clearly recognize womens active role in the formal and informal sectors, and whether the trade policies adequately address the needs and efforts of women in accessing trade opportunities. Notwithstanding the lack of information, I will attempt to discuss some of the ways in which trade liberalization has had an effect on women entrepreneurs and traders. It is possible to observe the opportunities that exist for increased trade, and how Kenyan women have been able to benefit from these. We can also discuss the challenges faced by Kenyan women in accessing the benefits of increased trade, and the issues that constrain real access by women traders and entrepreneurs to new markets and opportunities. During a seminar organised by OWIT-Nairobi5 in Nairobi last week on the theme Women in Trade: Accessing New Markets, women traders and entrepreneurs had the opportunity to hear an overview of relevant government policies and services that facilitate international trade and investment trade from government officials6. From the practical experiences and challenges shared by the panelists on the topic New Markets and Opportunities: Beyond policy to practice, participants were able to put Kenyas trade policies and practices and actual business opportunities and challenges into perspective. While the opportunities for increased trade were clearly articulated, and while women are just as eager as other Kenyans and investors to access the benefits of trade liberalization and access to new markets, it was apparent from the experiences shared by the participants that women could not easily take advantage of the potential benefits of trade because of challenges and constraints that they face. Challenges and Constraints Womens lack of access to credit, access to trade-related information, limited capacity in terms of knowledge and skills were identified as some of the constraints that make it difficult to access new opportunities and markets in trade. Those who already have access to markets, access to business services, to property and therefore access to credit are more likely to benefit from trade and investment opportunities than those without. In Kenya, this means that big established businesses are more likely to benefit increased trade opportunities possible through multilateral trading arrangements than small or micro enterprises in the informal sector, where you are likely to find women. With the declining demand for Kenyas traditional products in our traditional markets, Kenyan women have had to address the challenges of remaining competitive in the international market place, by exploring and breaking into new markets, and by diversifying their export products. This has meant improving on old products, as well as developing and introducing new products that are attractive and meet market expectations. To successfully identify new markets for their products, Kenyan women need access to trade-related information, and to participate in trade promotion missions and programmes. Although the Export Promotion Council and other government agencies try and make trade-related information available, this is not always accessible to women. Participating in trade promotion missions is also an expensive venture for women. Members of OWIT-Nairobi, through the kind facilitation of our sister chapter GWIT, were recently introduced to some of the trade tools (TradeMap and ProductMap) offered by the International Trade Centre (at the ϲʹ), and now have access to these tools. However while these tools present new opportunities for OWIT members, and has now made traderelated information easily accessible, many women are generally excluded from accessing this because of expensive communication costs and lack of easy internet access in Kenya. Lack of capacity is a great constraint. Some women in the export business, who successfully manage to secure large orders from new markets, face the challenge of supplying these orders and consequently fail to supply their markets. The reason for failing to do so is often that they did not have the capacity to make the orders by themselves, or did not have access to credit services to make this possible. The result is that Kenyas credibility is greatly eroded by those who fail to supply orders made to their markets, making it difficult for other Kenyan women traders to secure orders from the same markets. Many women in the export business in Kenya are to be found in the small and micro enterprise (SME) sector. Typically they will operate in small-scale businesses such as exports of handicrafts, curios and horticultural products. Handicrafts and curios are an example of a sector traditionally dominated by women that faces increasing challenges from competition in the world market. Kenyans handicrafts and curios are known all around the world. Kenyan hand-woven baskets, woodcarvings and stone curios yield high annual export earnings from the international markets. However there has been a declining demand for our traditional handicrafts, as these products face stiff completion in the market from synthetic products and other substitutes that are manufactured cheaply and quickly by competitors. To remain competitive in the international market, Kenyan entrepreneurs in the handicraft and curio business must try to understand their markets through research on market needs and trends. They need to be innovative and improve on old products or create new products that are attractive and meet our customers expectations. We have received feedback that some Kenyan products have performed poorly in global markets because of poor product design. It is not unusual to hear of shipments being rejected for failing to comply with specifications. This is a constraint that can be addressed by building womens capacity and technical skills, through technical assistance in product design and development. Another challenge that our traditional handicrafts face lies in the realm of intellectual property protection. Products based on traditional knowledge that belong to the community are not easily protected under the intellectual property regime. Over the years, some Kenyan products have been copied and subsequent innovation of the traditional products have been granted intellectual property protection elsewhere. This makes it difficult for Kenyan products to compete with the new improved products elsewhere. During the OWIT seminar, one participant recounted her experience in trying to export traditional hand-woven Kenyan baskets (which Kenya has been exporting for years) to France, only to have her products rejected on the basis a Korean company had a patent for a similar product.7 This is a trade-related aspect of intellectual property that affects Kenyan women entrepreneurs, and it is important to raise it here so that efforts can be made to address it. These are just some examples to illustrate the impact of ϲʹ Agreements on women in SMEs, and the challenges experienced by women as they try and access the benefits of increased trade. Suggestions and Initiatives What can national governments do to address the challenges that women in SMEs face as they try to access the potential benefits and new opportunities of trade liberalization within the multilateral trading arrangement under the framework of ϲʹ? What can and is the Kenyan Government doing to facilitate real access by women traders and entrepreneurs to new markets and opportunities? During the OWIT seminar, the government was asked to recognize the significant role that women play in Kenyas economic development as traders, entrepreneurs, business owners and workers in both the formal and informal sector, and to facilitate their access to the benefits of trade liberalization and access to new markets. Some of the specific measures that the government was asked to consider initiating to address the challenges and constraints faced by women in small and micro-enterprises and to facilitate real access to the benefits of increase trade under multilateral trading arrangements were: To promote womens access to and opportunities in trade by building the technical and management capacities of women entrepreneurs and traders to give them reasonable facilities and opportunities to realize their full potential. To target and encourage participation of delegations of businesswomen in trade promotion missions and programmes. To provide capacity building that helps women improve their marketing activities in order to strengthen the export competitiveness of products and services of their small and micro enterprises. To promote the setting up of funds for women-owned businesses, to improve their capacity to take advantage of global and regional trade agreements. Kenyan women were very pleased that the Minister of Trade and Industry in his keynote address rose to the some of the challenges raised and proposed various initiatives. He confirmed that Government would include and support women delegations in trade promotion missions, noting that women who participate in trade missions have usually done so at their own expense, yet reaping few of the benefits of these missions. He also indicated that the Government would generate an export promotion fund to facilitate such participation. In order to improve the dialogue between government and businesswomen, he promised that to set up a desk in the Ministry of Trade and Industry that would be dedicated exclusively to dealing with the challenges and issues of concern for women in trade. He also posed the challenge that women entrepreneurs themselves also have to come up with concrete recommendations to address the challenges and constraints identified, and not just tell government what is going wrong. Networks and associations such as OWIT therefore provide an important forum through which women entrepreneurs can engage in well thought-out dialogue with the government on trade policy and practice. Through such dialogue, women can urge governments to address gender dimensions in trade, to bring to focus the need to pay attention to the different needs and interests of men and women when developing trade policies, and to make practical recommendations on what should be done to accommodate womens needs and interests, as these have been generally overlooked. Such networks can also allow women in SMEs play a more active role in formulating national trade policy. Through such networks it is also possible to identify and address the structural reforms that are required to make credit services accessible.8 Another initiative that women can undertake is to work through associations and networks to secure and deliver on large orders, and through the same networks get feedback on whether the orders are successfully supplied to the markets, and if not identify the problems encountered.9 This would in turn require building the capacity of the associations and networks to do. There may already be other initiatives in place in Kenya to address the constraints in accessing new markets and to build womens capacity to access the benefits of trade and market access, 10 but these do exist, they do not appear to have been marketed sufficiently for women to take advantage of them. When providing technical assistance to developing countries to ease the burden of implementing ϲʹ Agreements, and to support capacity building, there should be specific planned programmes to support building the capacity of women entrepreneurs to take advantage of new opportunities at a reasonable cost. Conclusion This ϲʹ Symposium provides an opportunity to understand the debates on the changing reality at the global level that affects the lives of women in Kenya and other developing countries, and to bring to the table some of the concerns of women regarding the benefits of and the impact of multilateral trading arrangements. As our national governments participate in the negotiations under the auspices of the ϲʹ, and use the opportunity to achieve national interests, the challenge for women is to ensure that their interests are taken up when negotiating national interests. The Kenyan government has opened constructive dialogue with women entrepreneurs, and we hope that can now bring our issues to the table, so that our government can take these into account when on the negotiating table  The views expressed in this paper are mine and not necessarily those of the Organisation of Women in International Trade-Nairobi.  Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007 These are clearly articulated in the policy statement in January 2000 by the Government of Kenya to ϲʹϒs Trade Policy Review Body. The new Government continues to pursue these policies and the objective remains to expand existing market share and to diversify into new markets. Other relevant facts, figures and policies can be found in these websites of government agencies:  HYPERLINK "http://www.ipckenya.org/" www.ipckenya.org, epzakenya.com, cbik.or.ke. 4 See Julia P. Clones Concept Paper on Gender and International Trade in the Context of Pro-Poor Growth (2003) in which she undertakes a review of International Trade Agreements through the Gender Lens. 5 OWIT-Nairobi Seminar on Women in Trade: Accessing New Markets was held on Tuesday 18 May 2004 (with the kind support of General Motors Kenya Ltd). The keynote address was given by Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Kenyas Minister for Trade and Industry 6 Panelists discussing Trade Policies included the Director of Industry, representatives from the Department of External Trade, the Export Promotion Council and the Export Processing Zones Authority. 7 Asked to address this problem, the Trade Minister noted that this was a difficult problem, and as a party to TRIPS Agreement, the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty, Kenya is under an obligation to respect international law in this regard. 8 Participants at the OWIT seminar noted that women in trade were not always able to rely on the credit available through micro finance institutions, as the finance required to supply large orders was higher than the limits offered by these institutions. However, larger banking and financial institutions have still failed to address the needs of women. 9 An example of such an association is the Handloom Weavers Association of Kenya, which brings together women to supply large orders secured under AGOA in the US market. 10 It is Kenyas stated policy in the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007, to initiate programmes that encourage the capacity of SMEs to produce high quality products for the export market. 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