Background
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to continue its discussion of trade and development. (For background information, see Press Release GA/EF/3057 of 3 November.)
Statements
FERNANDE HOUNGBEDJI (Benin) stressed the importance of cotton for the reduction of poverty in West and Central Africa, where more than 2 million people depended on the crop. In 2001, cotton represented 5 to 10 per cent of gross national product for Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad. African cotton was
30 per cent less expensive than that of competitors in developed countries, but subsidies in those nations negatively affected the demand for, and price of, the region’s output.
The international community must reduce subsidies and eventually eliminate them completely, she said. The sponsors of the so-called cotton initiative -– Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad -- had suggested that necessary adjustments in developed countries be spread over a three-year period from 2004-2006. The elimination of subsidies would affect world cotton prices and African cotton production would benefit, allowing cotton-producing countries to become more competitive. In addition, compensation -- limited to the period during which subsidies were being eliminated -– should be awarded to cotton producers who had suffered losses due to subsidies.
IRENA ZUBCEVIC (Croatia) said that economies in transition were particularly challenged in achieving sustained economic growth. Their industries that were ill-equipped to compete in a market economy were forced to lay off scores of employees and faced major recessions. As those economies implemented the mass privatization of state-run industries, great pressure was put on the private sector to spur economic growth. Croatia was meeting that challenge through the creation of an enabling investment regime, export financing and risk insurance for businesses, regional free-trade agreements and accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Similar efforts were needed at the international level, she said, calling for improved coordination, cooperation and policy coherence of existing United Nations mechanisms, particularly among the Organization’s main agencies and funds. Closer links were needed between development financing and the Millennium Development Goals, in order to improve the international community’s effectiveness in combating hunger, illiteracy, poverty and disease.
CELESTINO MIGLIORE (Holy See) said trade policy must be organized to foster sustainable economic development. The least developed countries must also take the necessary steps to stem corruption and unethical practices that had in the past, hindered development and the well-being of their populations. The recent WTO ministerial meeting at Cancun had jeopardized the promises that rich nations made at Doha to slash trade-distorting farm support, tariffs on farm goods and agricultural export subsidies, he noted, adding that Cancun’s failure had also left pending the issues of tariff-reduction for textiles and special and differential treatment for exports from developing countries.
Calling upon all nations to demonstrate a great degree of international solidarity, and to abandon special interests for the future common good, he expressed the hope that the failure at Cancun would not jeopardize the building of a strong and more equitable multilateral trade and development system.
ITTIPORN BOONPRACONG (Thailand) said international trade had long been an engine of sustained economic growth and development in his country, often helping to pull it out of economic difficulty. Free and open international trade had allowed Thailand to export its products with a competitive advantage and to acquire needed imports. To derive the most benefit from trade, however, the country needed to strengthen national production, as well as liberalization and policy reform. In that respect, it must diversify its exports, acquire increased market access, tackle fluctuating and low commodity prices and gain access to finance and technology.
He urged States to support the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as the principal body of the United Nations for trade, investment and development. The UNCTAD provided a forum for countries to promote policy convergence on important global issues and allow the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy, through its numerous analytical studies, capacity-building and technical assistance.
JUVENAL MONJANE (Mozambique) said that the 2003 Trade and Development Report revealed that global trade and economic growth prospects were gloomy, impeding the ability of developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Two years after the Doha trade round had set forth an ambitious development agenda, little progress had been made. Many negotiation deadlines had been missed, particularly on agriculture, textiles and clothing, and non-agricultural products. The issue of trade subsidies must be addressed urgently, as 70 per cent of Africans depended on agriculture for their livelihoods. Resolving the agriculture issue was not merely a political issue, but a moral one as well.
Describing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the driving force for sustainable development and poverty eradication throughout Africa, he said it would help the region’s countries to explore comparative advantages and enhance competitiveness. Still, the international community must ensure an increase in official development aid and greater market access for exports from developing countries in order to push the NEPAD agenda forward.
JEAN BAPTISTE NATAMA (Burkina Faso) said that the weak performance of African agricultural products on world markets had largely resulted from external factors. In view of growing market integration due to liberalization and globalization, the trading environment had become increasingly competitive and the least developed countries, in particular, had been left on the margin of world markets. Emphasizing that sustained growth in agriculture was the key to economic development and the elimination of poverty in many African countries; he said that agricultural agreements that had emerged from the WTO Uruguay round had not been realized. Among other barriers, African countries still faced tariffs and lacked market access for their exports. Hopefully, future negotiations would improve market access, especially for such vital crops as cotton, which were completely offset by exports from Asia, America and Europe, where the crop was subsidized in violation of WTO rules. Cotton subsidies had artificially increased supply and lowered export prices. Cotton was an essential source of income and government revenues in African countries, and was key to the balance of trade.
