WTO’s MC10 gets underway in Nairobi

by Kanaga Raja

GENEVA (16 DEC): The WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference (MC10) got underway in Nairobi on 15 December with welcoming speeches by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo and the Chair of MC10, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed.

According to a news item posted on the WTO’s website, in his welcome speech to the conference, President Kenyatta noted that 2015 has been a year “in which we displayed unparalleled cooperation in agreeing on a number of approaches to some of the most pressing problems facing humanity.”

He said the adoption in September of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the conclusion in Paris on 12 December  of  an historic agreement to address climate change have demonstrated a spirit of achievement which should inspire negotiators in Nairobi.

“My earnest encouragement to all negotiating teams represented here today is to seize this moment, reach for a mutually beneficial compromise, and allow yourselves no result except success,” Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta stressed the importance of the WTO and trade for Africa in promoting economic growth and development. “A global trade system that allows us to seize opportunities is a fundamental part of our drive to solve challenges such as poverty, insecurity and environmental destruction,” he said.

The news item cited WTO Director-General Azevedo as urging WTO members to make every effort to secure agreements that will benefit the organization’s members, and least-developed countries (LDCs) in particular.

“We have seen the power of the world acting as one,” Azevedo said in reference to the climate agreement reached in Paris. “We should be inspired by that breakthrough here in Nairobi. We should be inspired to lift our sights – to reach further – to aim higher and use trade for the common good.”

Azevedo further said that Kenya’s commitment to the Nairobi conference “has been total” and “mirrors their commitment to trade itself as a force for growth and development. Kenya has set the stage”.

“Now it is time for us to deliver,” the DG underlined.

Kenyatta and Azevedo were joined at the opening ceremony by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, whose country will formally conclude negotiations on accession to the WTO on 16 December, and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Chair of the Conference, Amina Mohamed.

Mohamed said the world needs a message that the WTO can deliver and remains relevant. The centrality of the WTO to international trade relations “cannot be substituted”, she said.

She urged delegations to compromise in order to secure a successful Nairobi deal, noting that apart from a weak global economy, WTO members are faced with a risk of economic fragmentation through preferential trade agreements which, while useful complements, cannot replace the multilateral trading system.

“A unique opportunity”

Meanwhile, in some remarks at an opening press conference at MC10 on 15 December (also posted on the WTO website), Mohamed said that 2015 has been a momentous year for multilateral engagement.

“The recent success in Paris to agree a global deal to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change must provide the WTO membership with inspiration to end 2015 on a high note,” she said, adding that MC10 offers an opportunity for the WTO membership to reflect on how to further strengthen and preserve a system that has served us so ably.

She believed that Nairobi “offers a unique  opportunity  that we must seize”, and as Chair of the Conference, she strongly urged all members to further reflect upon their positions and show flexibility for a positive outcome here.

“Being the first WTO Ministerial Conference on the African continent, the Nairobi Ministerial Conference must be a success, for Africa, for development, for all members and for the global economy.”

She also believed that the WTO is at a crossroads. “Over the coming days, this gathering of Trade Ministers has a decision we need to collectively make. We face a clear choice. Whether we will reinvigorate the negotiating function of the organization and work to progress with issues of interest to all Members or have the stasis which has plagued the Doha negotiations for the past 15 years becomes further entrenched.”

Either way, the character of the organization will be fundamentally changed after this Ministerial Conference, she maintained.

“We must recognize that the structure of global production is being transformed – a single finished product often results from manufacturing and assembly in multiple countries and with many associated services. Each step in the process adds value to the end product. Global value chains have therefore created enormous trade opportunities for both developed and developing countries and have become a powerful driver of productivity growth, job creation, and improved living standards.”

This is not to say that the core issues which have been under negotiation as part of the Doha Round are not important, she said: agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA), development, rules and services etc. “They remain important and they will continue to be. Indeed, agriculture plays a fundamental role in many of the world’s economies and we must do all we can to ensure that these issues are addressed. But the world isn’t waiting for our organization.”

“It  is  my  sincere  hope  that all WTO members will be able to come together and map a way forward for this organization  which plays such an important role in the global economy.” (SUNS8158)                                                      

Third World Economics, Issue No. 605, 16-30 November 2015, pp12-13