The Deputy Minister for Industrialisation and Trade, Verna Sinimbo has urged for a well-balanced multilateral trading system that she says should promote trade in a manner that redresses the imbalance in the share of world trade between developed and developing countries.
Sinimbo made these remarks at the 12th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference which was initially scheduled for 12 to 15 June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The conference was however extended for a fifth day until today, with participants hoping to strike elusive deals involving fishing subsidies, food security and fighting Covid-19.
In a statement submitted to the WTO Secretariat, Sinimbo said by adopting the multilateral trading system, the WTO should march towards the attainment of its objective of helping members to use trade to raise living standards, create jobs and improve people’s lives.
“A thriving world economy in which all humans derive a dignified livelihood should be what we all aspire to, and that is what a well-balanced and progressive multilateral trading system should be able to achieve,” Sinimbo stated.
She elaborated that the multilateral trading system needs to strengthen provisions to be responsive to people’s social and humanitarian needs.
Said Sinimbo: “The unprecedented effect of the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of the WTO that, even under exceptional circumstances, the WTO has not yet been able to deliver on the most pressing needs of members to address vaccine inequity for all.”
The deputy minister continued that conclusively, Namibia reaffirmed its commitment to multilateralism and that “multilateral efforts must respond to the humanitarian crises, prevent further economic fragmentation, maintain global liquidity, manage debt distress, tackle climate change, and end the pandemic, as essential pillars towards economic recovery”.
Namibia is the current 2022/23 African Group Focal Point on Development at the WTO. The Namibian delegation in Switzerland was comprised of Sinimbo, Julia Imene-Chanduru (ambassador/permanent representative of Namibia), Lynnox Mwiya (commercial counsellor to the Permanent Mission of Namibia to the WTO), Diana Tjiposa (deputy director: trade ministry), Kauaria Ueritjiua (deputy executive director: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources), Mesag Mulunga (director: agriculture ministry), Paulina Elago (SACU executive secretary) and Kelebogile Lekaukau (SACU trade negotiations coordinator).
The WTO Ministerial Conference affords trade ministers from across the world an opportunity to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system, to make general statements and to take action on the future work of the organisation.
The year’s conference was co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan’s President. Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020 but the conference was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At this week’s conference, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on members to go the extra mile to find convergence on the various issues at stake and to be mindful that time is running out to conclude meaningful
agreements.
On the third day of the ministerial gathering, WTO members continued efforts toward reaching a long-awaited agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies and reaffirmed their intention to pursue convergence on texts related to agriculture.