ISLAMABAD, Sept 26: The South Asian business community has urged Director General World Trade Organisation (WTO) Pascal Lamy to play a proactive role for early resumption of stalled negotiations on Doha development round saying the delay would lead to proliferation of bilateral trade agreements.
The Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) — a representative body of the business community of the seven South Asian countries - has asked the DG WTO that any further delay in resumption of Doha talks would lead to an increase in bilateral trade agreements globally, which is not beneficial particularly for developing countries.
The SCCI in a letter addressed to the director general WTO, a copy of which was made available to Dawn, suggested a range of proposals for the revival of the stalled negotiations particularly to address the concerns of the South Asian countries.
Meanwhile, a 15-member business delegation, headed by SCCI President Dasho Ugen Tsechup Dorji, has already left for Geneva to convey the concerns of the South Asian business community over the postponement of the trade talks to the DG WTO.
From Pakistan side the delegation includes FPCCI President Ch. Muhammad Saeed; Teeko Impex Managing Director Tariq Sayeed and SCCI director Waqar Ahmad.
The SCCI president in the letter suggested that the crucial issue of non-tariff barriers needs to be addressed. This is particularly significant given the fact that major barriers faced by South Asian exports are in the form of non-tariff barriers and the current negotiations have mainly focused on tariff barriers, he said.
“The huge agricultural subsidies of developed countries are hurting the poor farmers in South Asia. We believe that there is a need to re-design a completely different model of agricultural trade that will provide true food sovereignty based on ensuring food security, promoting rural development, and safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods.
Hence, substantial and effective reduction in trade distorting domestic support and elimination of export subsidies is essential, the letter said.
The SCCI believes that international trade in services needs to be liberalised. This is essential given the importance of the impact of remittances on poverty alleviation in the South Asian economics, added the letter.
The letter asked for freely movement of natural persons from developing countries to the rich countries and removal of all barriers in this regard.
The Development Dimension now being discussed and designed in the WTO must have a certain component dedicated to the LDCs. Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) is pivotal and cannot be ignored as it promotes economic development of developing countries, including LDCs. “They are needed because there are differences in the levels of economic development and resources among WTO members,” it adds.
The private sector welcomes the recommendations of the WTO Task Force aimed at making the ‘Aid for Trade’ initiative operational. In addition, the SCCI requests additional financing that is predictable, sustainable, unconditional and effective. We urge WTO to consider implementing the recommendations of the task force on fast track at the global level.
Furthermore, increased transparency and involvement of developing countries in the multilateral negotiations is needed. The letter urged the leading blocks US and EU to play a positive role for successful conclusion of the Doha round.