LDCs urge developed countries to facilitate trade

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.