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Ronnie tipped to lead Lankan delegation for Doha meeting By
Nisthar Cassim The Government has agreed in principle to a private sector suggestion to set up an Inter-Ministerial Secretaries Committee to study and take necessary action on global agreements such as by the WTO and others. Trade chambers had raised the need for such a committee with Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning Dr. P.B. Jayasundera at their regular policy dialogue meeting early this week. The Ceylon Chamber had suggested that Dr. Jayasundera should facilitate a high level Government review team to consider all aspects of international agreements affecting Sri Lanka’s future trade and commerce. This team, preferably made up of high-level government officials and key private sector participants, should be supported by competent international experts. The Chamber had also pointed out that this team should be required to develop a strategic action plan to leverage long-term global competitiveness advantages for Sri Lanka, through international agreements, specifically addressing any negative covenants presently impacting on Sri Lanka. Ceylon Chamber Chairman Chandra Jayaratne who was present at this week’s meeting which was also attended by representatives of the IMF and ADB, confirmed Dr. Jayasundera’s agreement to appoint a committee as recommended. The key suggestion and relevant points raised by the private sector comes in the wake of the important 4th WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled from November 9 to 13 in Doha, Qatar. As against some strong stands taken by much larger member nations of the WTO such as India, the private sector is of the view that Sri Lanka, being a small economy that is dependent on external trade, should be taking a more proactive approach to global agreements. In this connection the Ceylon Chamber has also made a host of pertinent recommendations for the consideration of the Department of Commerce (DOC) when preparing Sri Lanka’s statement at the Doha meeting. A spokesman for the DOC told the Daily Mirror yesterday that it welcomed the comprehensive comments made by the Ceylon Chamber in response to an invitation extended by the DOC. "We are currently preparing Sri Lanka’s position paper on WTO issues that are likely to be taken up at the Doha meeting and we will incorporate several of the pertinent recommendations made by the Ceylon Chamber," the DOC spokesman added. A high-powered delegation scheduled to be led by Trade, Industrial Development and Rural Industries Minister Ronnie de Mel will be attending the Doha meeting, which will be held despite tensions in the region. Others in the delegation include Secretary to the Ministry S. Mannapperuma, Director-General of Commerce P. Hewage, a Deputy Director, Acting Director-General in charge of Economic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, two top officials from the Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission in the WTO and the Ambassador in Doha, Qatar. The DOC spokesman also confirmed that member nations of SAARC would be making known their collective stand on WTO issues at the Doha meeting. "All member countries had a preparatory meeting in New Delhi in August where we discussed the agenda of the Doha meeting and what would be the response of SAARC," he added. The Ceylon Chamber recommendations for consideration for inclusion in the Sri Lanka statement broadly covers issues such as the implementation and review of the Uruguay Round Agreement; market access and the use of non-tariff barriers; textiles and clothing; services; Intellectual Property Rights and TRIPS; trade and investment and trade and competition, labour standards and codes of conduct, trade and environment and e-commerce. "Implementing the extensive and demanding obligations resulting from the Uruguay Round (UR) is a major concern to developing countries and must be the focal point of action at the 4th Ministerial Meeting. The difficulties that this group of countries face go beyond the obvious implementation problems of the agreements to problems unforeseen at the time of accepting the obligations," the Ceylon Chamber has said in its detailed submissions to DOC. It said that a full review of the UR would reveal certain imbalances and asymmetries, which are biased against developing country interests and pose significant implementation problems. In preparation for the forthcoming meeting, it is critical to stress the importance of adopting a clear and unified negotiating strategy for developing countries that focuses on major issues arising from such a review of the Agreements. The Chamber had stressed this especially for agreements that relate to the export interests of developing countries (i.e. agreement on textiles and clothing, the agriculture agreement)
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