SEE
ALSO:
press
releases
WTO
news
Mike
Moore's speeches
Renato
Ruggiero's speeches, 1995-99
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See also: joint
statementWTO
Director-General Mike Moore, who chaired the meeting,
said: “We all know the IF has not been working as
well as it should and we are putting in place new
arrangements to rectify the situation. We have a
responsibility, shared with governments and other
agencies and institutions, to do better in assisting the
LDCs to integrate into the world economy. Of course, it
is the LDC governments themselves that must determine
their policies and priorities, but we must be ready to
give them effective help. It is time these countries saw
more of the positive side of globalization.”
The
new arrangements lay considerable stress on ensuring that
trade policy, trade-related technical assistance, and
capacity-building needs are articulated in a broad
development context. The heads of agency firmly shared
the view held by most governments and the development
community at large, that these aspects of policy simply
cannot be addressed in isolation. This emphasis on
“mainstreaming” trade means that the case for
trade-related technical assistance and associated
programs and projects must be made through a country-led
process of defining national poverty reduction
strategies.
The
need for trade-related assistance will be assessed
alongside a country's other priorities, and supported
accordingly by the government concerned and the donor
community. These arrangements will not only ensure that
trade takes its rightful place in policy terms, but it
will also increase the chances that the necessary
resources will be made available to foster the necessary
skills, institutions and infrastructure for the effective
integration of LDCs into the world economy.
A
second feature of the new arrangements is the proposed
establishment of a steering committee to oversee the
functioning of the IF on a continuing basis. The earlier
arrangement where the heads of the six core agencies
played an oversight role will be broadened out so as to
include LDCs and donors. This will ensure greater
transparency, more accountability and ownership, and will
allow any problems in the functioning of the IF to be
dealt with promptly as they arise.
A
third element is the decision to agree to seek donor
support for and voluntary contributions to an Integrated
Framework Trust Fund (IFTF). The trust fund, which would
involve some $20 million over three years, would be
primarily dedicated to helping LDCs to develop the
necessary analytical and policy framework for
mainstreaming trade into national development strategies,
and for developing programs and projects. It would also
be used for various other activities relating to training
and capacity-building. The heads of agency consider that
without dedicated resources, it will be hard to see how
the IF will function as it should.
The
core agencies also agreed on the importance of ensuring
that each agency should focus on what it does best,
within the context of its respective mandate. The heads
of agency have agreed that the World Bank will lead and
coordinate the mainstreaming process, with the
participation of other agencies. UNDP will manage the
proposed trust fund. The WTO will act in a coordinating
and secretariat role with respect to the working level
Inter-Agency Working Group for the IF, and each of the
agencies will focus on their respective areas of
expertise in the delivery of trade-related technical
assistance. The ITC, for example, will focus on support
for trade services in LDCs, including enterprise
development. UNCTAD's work will involve capacity building
and training of various kinds, including for
participation in trade negotiations.
The
origins of the Integrated Framework are rooted in the
Plan of Action for Least-Developed Countries, adopted as
part of the WTO Ministerial Declaration in Singapore. The
Framework itself was “endorsed” in October
1997, at a WTO High Level Meeting (HLM) for LDCs, where
it was decided that six agencies — ITC, IMF, UNCTAD,
UNDP, World Bank and WTO — would take joint
responsibility for the implementation of the framework
for delivering trade-related technical assistance to the
Least-Developed Countries.
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Footnote:1
Mr. J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director of
International Trade Centre, Mr. Reinhard Munzberg,
Director and Special Representative to the United Nations
of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. Rubens Ricupero,
Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development, Mr. Mark Malloch-Brown, Administrator of
the United Nations Development Programme, Mr. Kemal
Dervis, Vice-President for Poverty Reduction and Economic
Management, World Bank, and Mr. Mike Moore,
Director-General of the World Trade Organization Back
to text
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