By Emma Kakololo
WINDHOEK
Government officials from 22 African countries, including Namibia, last week concluded a three-month immersion into the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Minister of Trade and Industry Immanuel Ngatjizeko was the keynote speaker at the diploma ceremony held at the closure of the Third Trade Policy Course (TPC), which was hosted by the University of Namibia (Unam).
He stressed the need to build capacity on the continent.
While trade has been a key driver of growth in many parts of the world, he said, the composition of the African continent’s exports remained largely unchanged while its share in world trade reduced from six percent in 1980 to less than two percent in 2002.
The minister was convinced that the TPC would significantly help beneficiary countries to strengthen their capability to participate in the multilateral trading system.
“I am sure the TPC has built a solid basis for a better understanding of the WTO and trade policy issues.
“This will allow for a sober and systematic reflection on the multilateral trading system as well as issues on the agenda of the WTO for negotiations.”
He attributed Africa’s loss of global trading opportunities primarily to supply-side constraints, such as low productivity, poor infrastructure, especially high transport costs, poor road networks, lack of financial credit and its high costs of credit, quality of products, and poor trade facilitation systems.
To this end, he said, the continent in general, and in particular Namibia, attaches great importance to Aid for Trade as a complement to trade solutions, as a way to assist developing countries to offset economic losses arising from trade liberalization, particularly arising from preference erosion and higher food prices for net-food importing developing countries.
“Multilateral trade liberalization under the Doha Round has the potential to generate significant economic opportunities that could lift millions of people out of poverty.
“However, fulfilling this potential requires the leadership of developed countries in further opening their markets, particularly in agriculture and other areas of export interest like NAMA (non-agricultural market access) to developing countries.”
WTO Director of Trade Policy Review Division, Clemens Boonekamp, highligh-ted the necessity for the participants to build on the knowledge and experience they have acquired during the three-month course held at Unam.
“The course was a way to bring the benefits of what WTO can offer to its members.
“Participants should keep alive the network of contacts, which has been consolidated during this course.”