The multilateral
institutions reiterated their support trade facilitation.
Issuing a joint
statement today at the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF, over half a
dozen multilateral institutions – including African Development Bank, Asian
Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European
Investment Bank, Inter, American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund,
and World Bank Group – said that they would like to reiterate their strong
collective commitment to support trade facilitation.
“The ninth
WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia on December 3-6 offers an opportunity
to conclude a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement that will deliver tangible
economic benefits for developing and least-developed countries,” they said, urging
WTO members to seize the opportunity.
“At our meetings here in Washington we had the opportunity to discuss preparations for the Bali Ministerial meeting and we are encouraged by the renewed engagement by WTO members on trade facilitation and other issues of interest to developing countries, including least-developed countries.”
“At our meetings here in Washington we had the opportunity to discuss preparations for the Bali Ministerial meeting and we are encouraged by the renewed engagement by WTO members on trade facilitation and other issues of interest to developing countries, including least-developed countries.”
A growing
body of research points to the positive development impact of trade
facilitation, they claimed. “Tackling inefficiency in clearing goods and
shortening delays can reduce the cost of getting goods to market with positive
effects on competitiveness and consumer welfare.”
Our
institutions are engaged in a broad range of trade-related infrastructure
projects, according to them. Since 2008, they have disbursed $22 billion in
concessional support for economic infrastructure and building productive
capacity in developing countries. “With strong evidence that trade facilitation
reforms help maximise the economic impact of our trade-related infrastructure
assistance, our support to trade facilitation programmes has more than doubled
since 2008.”
A WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement would add significant momentum to efforts to increase developing country competitiveness, and provide a multilateral framework to shape and guide trade facilitation efforts taking place at the regional and national level.
A WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement would add significant momentum to efforts to increase developing country competitiveness, and provide a multilateral framework to shape and guide trade facilitation efforts taking place at the regional and national level.
Earlier in
July, together with more than 20 other organisations and governments, they stated
their strong commitment to support developing countries, and in particular
least-developed countries, in the full and effective implementation of a WTO
Trade Facilitation Agreement.
“We recognise that concerns
persist in the negotiations about access to and coherence of assistance,” they
claimed. “We will work with the WTO and its members to help ensure that the new
commitments that a trade facilitation agreement would bring are supported and will
also work to ensure that our support for the implementation of commitments is
coordinated with our support for complementary infrastructure development.”They have also recognised that they would need to discuss further how to ensure a coordinated and effective response to requests for support from developing countries, and in particular least-developed countries to implement a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
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