PARIS, May 17: Ministers of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries, in Paris for their annual ministerial summit, have issued an urgent call for action with regard to the economic situation — and notably the trade problems — of developing countries.

In particular — and quite significantly — the OECD, in association with finance ministers from Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa, decided to give a push to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), saying that the OECD “definitely has a role to play in furthering African development.”

The ministers said in their final communique that they “welcomed as a promising initiative the NEPAD with its emphasis on a comprehensive and integrated approach to development, and guided by principles of responsibility, African ownership, regional integration, economic freedom, democracy, transparency, good governance, the rule of law, stability, conflict prevention and resolution, human rights, investment in people, fight against poverty and hunger and facilitation of market access as fundamental for development.”

They noted too that the OECD definitely has a role to play in furthering African development, and to that end, the ministers agreed more specifically “to conduct further dialogue between NEPAD and the OECD to determine how best to deepen mutual understanding and co-operate to advance the NEPAD initiative; also undertake such other joint projects as enhance African participation in existing OECD Global Forums and other outreach activities in areas such as investment, trade, good governance, the reinforcement of statistical capacities and sustainable development.”

And, in order to help alleviate the growing concerns of the developing world, the OECD ministers, in a joint declaration with the World Trade Organization, asked that the trade concerns of developing countries, notably market access, be given higher priority, and to this effect have decided to create a database in support of the Doha Development Agenda, a reference to the Doha Declaration which had called for the creation of “well-targeted, sustainably financed, technical assistance and capacity building programmes.”

In a joint letter sent to aid donors, multilateral agencies and development banks as part of this concern, WTO Director-General Mike Moore and OECD Secretary General Donald J. Johnston have launched a process of data collection on trade-related technical assistance/ capacity building activities (TRTA/CB) for the WTO Doha Development Agenda TRTA and CB Database, jointly established with the OECD.

The joint statement also re-emphasizes the commitment of WTO members to help the weakest among them to participate effectively in the multilateral trading system. A more comprehensive report on the problem, and how it is being dealt with is expected to filed with OECD and WTO authorities in time for the WTO ministerial meeting to be held in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003.

The database will provide a “snapshot” of the situation for 2001-2002 and, therefore, provide timely and current information for the progress report to the WTO General Council at the end of 2002. It will subsequently be updated for the WTO ministerial meeting and beyond.

The OECD Council at Ministerial level met on May 15-16, 2002, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium, assisted by the Vice-Chairmen from Spain, Rodrigo de Rato Figaredo, Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Economy, and from New Zealand, Jim Sutton, Minister for Trade Negotiations.

In its final communique, the OECD noted that it was “pleased to see” that recovery was under way for the industrial nations. “Economic growth,” noted the final declaration, “picked up in the United States and in some other countries at various points last year, and is likely to gain momentum in Europe and most of the OECD area in the course of this year, with Japan expected to experience a modest recovery beginning later in the year.”

“The determined easing of monetary policy across most countries and fiscal stimulus in some have contributed strongly to the return of growth. These policy actions were, in turn, facilitated by earlier progress in promoting low and stable inflation, medium- and long-term sustainability of public finances and structural reform aimed at boosting growth and employment.”

“Despite this promising outlook,” notes the final communique, “risks and uncertainties remain. We have an ongoing responsibility to implement sound macro-economic policies and structural reforms to sustain recovery and support strengthened productivity growth in our economies.”