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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/270

TRADE POLICY REVIEW:

A return to growth, but further reforms could help diversification

Since its political stabilization in 2002 following a decade of civil war, the Republic of the Congo is pursuing a macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform programme that has improved the business climate. This programme, together with the surge in world prices and domestic production and exports of petroleum, has paved the way for a return to growth, with real GDP increasing at an average annual rate of 4.2 percent during the period 2002-2005, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of the Republic of the Congo by the WTO Secretariat.

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One of the main objectives of the country's poverty reduction strategy is to diversify the economic base by stimulating agriculture, mining, forestry and downstream processing, since the economy is dominated by petroleum exploitation, according to the report. Leveraging the deepwater port of Pointe-Noire, the Republic of Congo could promote trade, including transit services, by addressing deficiencies in the transport network, particularly land transport.

The report also indicates that the Republic of Congo would do well to improve the scope of its commitments in trade in goods and services and to adhere more closely to the principles of the WTO. This would help create a more business friendly environment and to make the trade regime more transparent, credible and predictable. The report suggests that the WTO trading partners of the Republic of the Congo could support its efforts in this regard by reinforcing its programme of trade-related technical assistance.

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government, will be the basis for the Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

• Secretariat report
  > Contents and summary observations (12 pages, 102KB)
  > Economic environment (10 pages, 242KB)
  > Trade and investment regimes (15 pages, 151KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (21 pages, 312KB)
  > Trade policies by sector (5 pages, 309KB)
  > Appendix tables (21 pages, 905KB)
    
• Government report (15 pages,88KB)
    

Note  back to top

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

Kyrgyz Republic: 9 and 11 October 2006
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda: 25 and 27 October 2006
Colombia: 22 and 24 November 2006

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