Business in developing countries is advocating strongly for a
return to the negotiating table, but it is an often-neglected voice
in trade talks. ITC's Business for Development workshops help
business leaders make their case with government negotiators and
contribute to more targeted national negotiating positions. The
series got off to a successful start in Nairobi (30-31 March),
where participants from eastern and southern Africa discussed their
expectations from the Doha Development Round of global trade talks,
due to be completed by January 2005.
Defending Africa's interests
In Nairobi, business and government representatives from 12
countries - Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda,
South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe -
exchanged views.
"Africa, if it wants its interests to be taken on board at the WTO,
has no choice but to remain engaged in the negotiations," declared
Mukhisa Kituyi, Kenya's Minister of Trade and Industry.
"But we must be equipped with the necessary information in order to
be effective. Governments negotiate for their businesses.
Governments do not know everything. Therefore they have to form a
strong partnership with business in order to be effective…
Businesses are part and parcel of the negotiations."
ITC's Executive Director, J. Denis Bélisle, told the opening
session that the goal of the meeting was "to help business people
and governments come together in a strong public-private sector
team to defend the interests of Africa in the trade negotiations
being resumed in Geneva".
Also attending the meeting were Kenya's Minister of Planning and
National Development, Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, and the Chargé
d'Affaires of the United States embassy in Nairobi, Leslie Rowe.
Participants from the region's private sector included heads of
chambers of commerce, leading exporters, commodity producers and
consumer protection advocates. Participants heard presentations
from African and ITC experts on the current state of the
negotiations in Geneva on agriculture and market access for
industrial products, and on the future of the textiles trade.
Ms Rowe reasserted the US's commitment to the multilateral trading
system and its willingness to reduce and eventually eliminate
support to agriculture. "The challenge for each [WTO] member state
is to take hard decisions about what concessions you are willing
and able to make in order to make gains on other fronts. The
business community's contributions to the formulation of a national
negotiating agenda are vitally important to the success of the
multilateral trade discussions," she added.
Business must speak out
"Successful negotiations for the Doha Development Agenda [Round]
depend, to a large degree, on the quality of collaboration between
national trade negotiators and business leaders," said Mr. Bélisle.
The problem is that often the two sides do not talk to each
other.
He also commented that business in developing countries,
particularly those where it was only beginning to build confidence
in its capacities, must make its voice heard in government circles
before talks start moving towards agreement. "It is no good waiting
till the negotiators come home and then complaining that they
failed to get the agreements the private sector needed," he
said.
Ramamurti Badrinath, ITC's Director of Trade Support Services, in
promoting the concept of "business advocacy", said that the private
sector in most developing countries - after years of keeping aloof
from trade talks in the belief that they were best left to
government negotiators - is now clamouring to be consulted, just as
their counterparts in the North are regularly consulted by their
governments.
Peter Naray, ITC's Senior Adviser on the Multilateral Trading
System, pointed out that he and his colleagues had ample evidence
that African businesses were dismayed at the hiatus in talks in
Cancún and wanted a meaningful return to the negotiating table as
soon as possible.
An important consequence of Cancún is the proliferation of
bilateral and regional deals, which adds to the complexity of
international trade and does not favour countries with smaller
bargaining power. There is also uncertainty about the future of
multilateral trade negotiations. "Uncertainty is the biggest enemy
of business," said Mr. Bélisle. "Business people need to know what
lies ahead to make decisions, including investment
decisions."
With the Nairobi seminar, ITC aimed at bringing the region's
private sector and governments to a closer understanding and enable
them to work out a coherent programme to continue the Doha Round
negotiations.
Meeting challenges ahead
Speakers agreed that any delay in resuming negotiations in the
Round will translate into lost opportunities for business as well
as lost development opportunities for African economies.
- Textiles. The problems facing the
world's smaller textile producers - in the face of the coming
challenge from China when the sector is absorbed into WTO rules
from next year - emerged as a major theme at the meeting. Martin
Viljoen, Executive Director of the South African Textile Industry
Export Council, suggested that sub-Saharan countries come together
under the banner "Brand Africa" to market their products. Jeremy
Musgrave, Chief Executive Officer of National Blankets Textile,
Zimbabwe, said African producers could ensure a small but
sustainable part of the world textile and clothing market by
uniting as "an honest player, Africa Incorporated".
- Agriculture. While agriculture may be
the most important trade issue for Africa, of all business groups,
the continent's farmers are the least informed and involved in
negotiations and other trade development measures, said Angela A.
Wauye, an economist in Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development. "They need to form associations and consortia to
benefit from synergy effects, economies of scale and technical
efficiencies," she declared.
- Regional trade agreements. "African
countries can be served better by the multilateral trading system
than by bilateral or any other type of trade agreements," said
Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana, WTO's Deputy Director-General. Some
participants argued that creating regional groupings both in Africa
and with other developing countries could help the continent to
promote its interests better in the Doha Round. Rosalind H. Thomas
of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Development
Finance Resource Centre said this strategy was flawed as the
interests of the players in such wide-ranging pacts "often differ
fundamentally".
Kenyan participant Job K. Kihumba, Executive Director of the
Association of Professional Societies in East Africa, said, thanks
to ITC, key business and government players understand what is
happening in the region and can see the opportunities that the
global trading system offers. "Above all it has become clear that
it is vital for business to engage in trade negotiations. After
all, at the end of the day it is business that knows what
pinches."
Participants also said that ITC should continue to provide
business-focused analysis and updates on trade talks, including
greater access to its tools and services on the issue, particularly
Market Access Maps.
The 2004 Business for Development series builds on the
accomplishments of the seven Business for Cancún meetings, held in
the first half of 2003. These regional gatherings resulted in 49
business participants joining national delegations at the trade
talks. Both series have been funded by a range of donors, including
Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United
States.
ITC at UNCTAD XI
- Business for Development - 8-9 June.
This workshop, which ITC is organizing during UNCTAD's Rio Trade
Week in Rio de Janeiro, is primarily for Latin American and
Caribbean countries.
Business advocacy on the agenda
The seven regional Business for Cancún workshops in 2003 involved
more than 300 business leaders and government negotiators from 87
countries. The objective was to promote closer partnership and
intensify dialogue. The Business for Development meeting in Nairobi
brought together 60 public and private sector participants from 12
eastern and southern African nations. The initiatives help clarify
negotiating positions and boost business advocacy for trade.
Other 2004 workshops include:
- Transition economy countries: Sofia,
Bulgaria, 18-21 May.
- Latin American and Caribbean
countries: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10-11 June (in
conjunction with UNCTAD XI, São Paulo).
- Asian countries: (venue to be
confirmed), September or October.
- Central and western African
countries: (venue to be confirmed), November or
December.
Papers and conclusions of the Nairobi meeting are available at http://www.intracen.org/worldtradenet
For more information, contact Peter Naray, ITC Senior Adviser
on the Multilateral Trade System, at naray@intracen.org