AWARENESS SEMINAR ON THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM

TOWER HOTEL

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006-10-17

 STATEMENT BY HONOURABLE HENRY B. JEFFREY

MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

 

Ambassador Per Eklund

Representatives of the Private and Public Sectors

Media Representatives

Ladies and Gentlemen

Allow me to express how great a pleasure it is to welcome you all to this very important Awareness Seminar on the Multilateral Trading System. You are all aware, I am sure, that this activity today is part of a project which seeks to strengthen private and public sectors dialogue on trade issues, with a view to ensuring more active participation in trade issues in general and in the multilateral trading system in particular. My Ministry is indeed pleased to see the execution of this project.

Permit me therefore in recognition, to express my sincere gratitude to the European Commission for supporting our endeavours to strengthen the public-private sectors dialogue mechanism.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been asked to deliver an Opening Statement at this morning’s proceedings. While cognisant of the fact that this seminar seeks to increase participants’ knowledge on the multilateral trading system, the fundamental objective is really about strengthening partnerships with trade policy stakeholders.

Because of Guyana’s small domestic market, there is a high dependence on external trade. As such, the international trading system is central to the ongoing process of economic reforms.

As a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana is negotiating in a number of arenas, including the World Trade Organisation, the African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (stalled for some time now) to name a few. Effective participation in these arenas has presented, and continues to present, real challenges, especially in the face of scarce human and technical resources.

The problem becomes more acute when one considers the expanding range of issues that fall under the ever-expanding rubric of trade policy, once confined primarily to border measures and the transnational movement of goods.

Trade policy, having evolved as it has into fields of public policy that deal with the movement across frontiers, of goods, services, capital, ideas, and even people, as well as an array of policy instruments that are employed both at the border and within an economy, is now more complicated.

Negotiations, and in particular trade negotiations, seldom take place in a vacuum. Effective trade negotiations depend upon a cooperative and collegial approach among all stakeholders. In other words, effective trade negotiation is a function of the internal consultation process. The absence of teamwork would undoubtedly result in less than maximum gains from the negotiations. It is for this reason that I am especially heartened to see so many representatives of the private sector present here today.

The private sector is the ultimate beneficiary of trade policy. As such is incumbent upon Government to ensure that the sector is involved in the development and execution of trade policy. However, it is also obligatory for the private sector to be more pro-active in their approach with respect to trade policy matters.

While I am encouraged by some of the structures private sector bodies have established to address trade policy issues, I believe there is still room for improvement, in particular with respect to strengthening coordination among the various bodies of the private sector.

My Ministry’s mission statement with respect to trade is “To formulate and advocate a coherent and effective trade policy that will advance Guyana’s multilateral, regional and bilateral trade interests; identify opportunities for developing new markets for existing goods and services and new exportable goods and services……….”.

In pursuit of the aforementioned mandate challenges are continuously encountered, not least among which is access to current information on the strategic interests of the private sector and other non-state actors. Additionally, there is the issue of the ability to effectively communicate the implications of trade obligations to stakeholders as well as that of formulating policies which seek to balance government’s commitments and the interests of non-state actors.

While there are mechanisms in place for inter-agency coordination of trade policy issues such as the National Advisory Committee on External Negotiations (NACEN) and the Guyana Coalition of Service Providers (GCSP), awareness seminars such as this one, which target a larger audience, go a far way to demystify the sometimes technical jargons of trade negotiations. This, I must hasten to add, can only help in facilitating greater dialogue between the public and private sectors at all levels as they pursue common objectives.

With these brief remarks, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all once again and wish you a very fruitful session.

 

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