Guest Lectures and Seminars |
Consequences of WTO-Agreements for Developing Countries | ||
Presented by: | Ms. Karin Elisabeth Dahlin, Acting Director General | |
Sweden National Board of Trade | ||
Date: | Sep 15, 2004 at FETP | |
The seminar focus on two topics. First is the role of trade facilitation in enhancing competitiveness and promoting economic growth in developing countries. Second is to clarify WTO’s role and to present results of the report conducted by National Board of Trade (NBT) on assessing consequences of WTO agreements on developing countries.
Ms Elizabeth Dahlin introduces NBT and results of its report on trade facilitation from a developing country perspective. In this report, Việt Nam is the first developing country chosen to assess for its efforts and achievement in this area. The core of trade facilitation is about adaptability of a simple, transparent and globally harmonized trade system, promotion of government and private sector cooperation, determination and reduction of extra costs that arise in the course of international transactions in order to improve competitiveness.
Having participated in important trade rounds of WTO from the early Tokyo and Uruguay, to the recent Seattle and Cancun Rounds, Mr. Peter Kleen reintroduces the history of WTO and its fundamental principles. He highlights the organization’s role as an umbrella of global trade within which country members set up rules and regulations for their own benefits in a democratic fashion. It is also a legal forum for trade dispute settlement among country members. He talks about the success of WTO in cutting tariff on industrial goods and its failures in the agricultural area. He also talks about the benefits that small countries can reap as members of the organization in influencing its rules and regulations, strengthening their negotiation ground by allying with other members of the same interests. Mr. Kleen then briefs the findings of a research conducted by National Board of Trade on consequences of WTO agreements on developing countries. According to the findings, positive impacts include better market access, stability and predictability on export markets, promotion of trade, improvement in poverty situation and distribution of income, and relatively effective settlement of trade disputes. Among the negative consequences is the cost burden in implementing WTO agreements on less developing countries. In order to determine the extend of WTO impacts on these countries, the report grouped them in different development levels according to UNDP criteria. | ||
| Consequences of WTO-Agreements for Developing Countries ( 664.5 KB) |
| Trade Facilitation from a Developing Country Perspective ( 244.3 KB) |
| Trade Facilitation ( 136.3 KB) |
| A Briefing on WTO ( 2,327.0 KB) |
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