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22 April 2008

President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests

South Africa pays tribute to Brazil for its immense contribution in hosting UNCTAD XI and to Ghana for hosting this important conference. As fellow Africans my delegation is especially appreciative of the excellent arrangements that Ghana has made for this conference, as we know very well just what is involved. Indeed we are proud of the fact that UNCTAD XII takes place again on African soil!

Mr President, on this occasion it is instructive to reflect on 60 years of the multilateral trading system. During the past eight rounds of trade negotiations, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) continued to ignore the legitimate concerns and interests of developing countries, and over time, institutionalised an asymmetry of economic power in favour of developed countries.

Although developing countries lacked political and economic bargaining power, they raised their concerns in the GATT and the United Nations (UN). It is through these efforts that UNCTAD was created in 1964. With the technical assistance and capacity building efforts of UNCTAD, and with the policy analyses and strategic perspective provided to them, developing countries did succeed in making some advances. However, it is widely accepted that the past eight rounds of negotiations including the Uruguay round, created a number of imbalances in the trading system resulting in unfair trade and a rules based system that is skewed in favour of developed countries.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha declaration proclaimed that the "needs and interest of developing countries" would be placed "at the heart of the work programme". A WTO development round needs accordingly to focus on corrective action aimed at bringing about a significant rebalancing of the global trading system, as well as addressing a number of the capacity constraints and adjustment costs that prevent developing countries taking advantage of market access opportunities. Agriculture and agro industrial products represent the main comparative and potential competitive advantage of most developing countries.

The fundamental issue in determining whether or not the WTO process moves forward, remains whether the major developed country trading blocs can develop sufficient political will to make the kind of reforms in agricultural trade which have long been identified as necessary to give developing countries an opportunity to expand exports in areas where many already have a natural comparative advantage and/or could acquire further competitive advantages. The need for these reforms has been made even more urgent by the current global food price crisis. If there was ever a moment for displaying leadership by those that have held back the development prospects of agricultural producers in the developing world, in favour of a small number in the developed world, it is now. South Africa calls for bold decisive action by the major subsidisers and distorters of agricultural trade in the interest of millions of working people and the poor worldwide. As the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated, if we cannot stop these policies of old fashioned subsidies in the North today then when can we do this?

As South Africa, we continue to pay particularly close attention to the negotiations taking place in the area of Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA). We have observed with dismay that NAMA continues to be regarded by the major trading blocs as an area where so called advanced developing countries, including South Africa, merely pay for the reforms which developed countries need to make in the agricultural sector. Through our work in co-ordinating the NAMA 11 group in the WTO, we are striving to ensure that we do not find ourselves in a position where we are asked to make a disproportionate contribution in industrial tariff reductions, to secure only modest gains in the agriculture sector. It is precisely here when we discuss the details of issues like flexibilities, and the coefficient in the Swiss formula, that we need to draw on our own industrial policy work. We have clearly indicated along with other developing countries, the need to create and jealously guard policy space that is essential to broaden and deepen our industrial development. Our industrial policy priorities and perspectives will guide us in decisions about what we can, and what we cannot live with, and what can, and what may not benefit us. UNCTAD's role in producing technical analysis and policy research together with capacity building in trade negotiations will be crucial to empower developing countries to participate effectively in the WTO negotiations.

Mr President, South Africa is firmly committed to building strong South - South trade co-operation. Over the last decade or so, developing countries have increasingly become significant poles of global growth and sources of foreign direct investment. Their share of international trade has grown and now accounts for around 40 percent of world trade. And as the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, stated in his opening address, about 50 percent of developing country goods exports are now destined for other developing countries. It is against this background that South Africa began an active strategy of global strategic engagement with countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

South Africa developed an approach to try and break out of its North - South dependence and heavy reliance on the export of unbeneficiated commodities, that characterised our economy for several decades. Thus a multifold strategy has been developed which while seeking to forge deeper mutually beneficial trade and investment linkages with the North, also prioritises the building of the African region and diversification of our trade and investment by building stronger relations with non-traditional Southern trading partners in Latin America and Asia. UNCTAD's analytical work to assist developing countries to deepen South-South trade in a mutually beneficial manner will strengthen our work in this area.

Africa continues to be the centrepiece of South Africa's global economic strategy. Because we share a common destiny, it is in South Africa's interest to pursue a strong development agenda for the continent. South Africa contributes to the economic regeneration of the continent by promoting development oriented integration with countries in Southern Africa and by forging economic ties with key economies on the rest of the continent. The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has provided us with a vision for African economic development and global integration. UNCTAD's work in providing support to Africa's regional integration efforts and capacity building to benefit from globalisation will continue to be vital to sustain our own efforts in this area.

South Africa welcomes the convening of a high-level meeting at the beginning of the 63rd session of the general assembly on Africa's development needs, the state of implementation of all commitments made to Africa, the challenges and the way forward. This meeting will constitute a significant event to comprehensively address the special development needs of the continent.

In this context, South Africa supports the UN Secretary-General's initiative to scale up efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to enable the "bottom billion" to finally escape the poverty trap. Accordingly, my delegation welcomes the setting up of the MDG Africa steering group as it draws together UN system and other key partners to address in a systematic way the special needs of African countries in their pursuit of development.

Mr President, world leaders have promised, at various forums including the UN Millennium Summit held in 2000, the Monterrey Finance and Development Conference, and the World Summit for Social Development, to ensure that the WTO Doha Round will prioritise development. Developing countries were also promised Aid for Trade to help them to mitigate the adjustment costs associated with trade liberalisation and to build their supply capacity. As we are halfway to our 2015 target, it is a cause for concern that these promises have not yet been fulfilled and as a result most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are not on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals on time! UNCTAD has an important role to play in realising the Aid for Trade commitments of developed countries. Indeed UNCTAD itself was created by the United Nations to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to benefit from the opportunities provided by the multilateral trading system.

South Africa supports the recommendation made by the panel of eminent persons established by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD that UNCTAD could and should play a catalytic role in pursuit of development at the national and international levels through state-of-the-art policy analysis and advocacy. In this regard, UNCTAD should put full and productive employment and decent work at the heart of the trade and development discussion. We also support the creation of an UNCTAD Commission on Globalisation. Such a commission could take up numerous vital issues related to globalisation and development.

Finally, Mr President, please allow me to take this opportunity to invite the distinguished delegates to visit our beautiful country as we host the Federation International Football Association (FIFA) Soccer World Cup in 2010, the first time a soccer world cup will take place on African soil!

Thank you for your attention.

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
22 April 2008
Source: Department of Trade and Industry (http://www.dti.gov.za)