The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) asked
developed countries for duty-free, quota-free market access and help facilitate
trade.
Inaugurating the ninth Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Bali today, Indonesian president Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyonourged the developed countries to
facilitate trade with the LDCs.
Meanwhile, trade, commerce and supplies
minister Shanker Prasad Koirala, said that the LDCs' negligible share
in world services exports calls for targeted support measures in the terms of
both providing market access and building capacity to trade in services.
Timely and effective implementation of the Services Waiver could
be an effective instrument to enhance LDCs' share and increase their presence
in the world services trade helping these countries better integrate into the
world trade, he said, addressing the high level meeting on the operationalisation
of the LDC Services Waiver organised in Bali today by the International Centre
for Trade and Sustainable Development and other organizations.
Koirala highlighted that the waiver was developed in favour of the
LDCs in recognition of their special needs and interest in export of services
and concrete steps should now be taken to operationalise the decision. "LDCs
should identify their priorities, needs and possibilities," he said, adding
that LDCs' trading partners should design and effectively implement new trade
preference schemes by making necessary adjustments in their regulatory
frameworks. "The LDCs have undertaken works to develop a collective
request and they expect announcements from trading partners of offers, during
the high level meeting planned for next year, of trade preferences targeted to
LDCs."
Services Waiver is the Ministerial Decision of 2011 which allows
WTO members to offer preferential treatment to the services and services
suppliers of LDCs without needing to accord similar treatment to non-LDCs.
Ambassador and permanent representative of Nepal in Geneva Shanker
D Bairagi chaired the meeting, where ministers and other senior officials from
LDCs as well as their major trading partners were penalist.
Earlier this morning, Koirala
held a bilateral meeting with the executive director of the International Trade
Centre Arancha Gongalez and discussed on the support Nepal has received and
expects to receive in future from the ITC.
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