From left: Valentine Rugwabiza, Deputy Director General, World Trade Organisation (WTO); Gerard Worms, Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Vice Chairman, Rothschild Europe; Harold McGraw III, Vice Chairman, ICC, and Chairman and CEO, The McGraw Hill Companies; Jean-Guy Carrier, Secretary General, ICC; Remy Rowhani, Director General, Qatar Chamber; Victor K Fung, Honorary Chairman, ICC; and Peter Mihok, Chairman, ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF); at a media briefing during the ICC WCF 8th World Chambers Congress at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha yesterday. Salim Matramkot
BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Duty-free and quota-free exports from least-developed countries will boost global GDP by about $1tn. Free market access and reforms in the existing trade agreements will create over 21 million new jobs across the globe, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said here yesterday.
The ICC, in association with Qatar Chamber, on behalf of global business finalised five important recommendations for World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries to salvage parts of on-going Doha trade negotiations that could boost global GDP by $960bn.
The initiative could achieve tangible outcomes by the end of 2013, to harvest gains from the WTO’s Doha Development Round. These recommendations include: Conclude a trade facilitation agreement; Implement duty-free and quota-free market access for exports from least-developed countries; Phase out agricultural export subsidies; Renounce food export restrictions and Expand trade in IT products and encourage growth of e-commerce worldwide.
The findings of a detailed market study were announced in a press conference held on the sidelines of the first day of the ongoing ICC WCF 8th World Chambers Congress. Present were Valentine S Rugwabiza, Deputy Director-General, WTO; Gerard Worms, Chairman, ICC; Jean-Guy Carrier, Secretary General, ICC; Remy Rowhani, Director General, QC; Harold McGraw III, President and CEO, McGraw-Hill Companies; Victor K Fung, Honorary Chairman of ICC Business World Trade Agenda.
The recommendations are part of the ICC Business World Trade Agenda, also known as “Beyond Doha” that aims to pick up where the Doha Round of trade talks stalled over 10 years ago. It intends to inject a new vigour in making globalisation an inclusive process.
Replying to a question about the deliverability of these recommendations, Rugwabiza said: “This is a 100 million dollar question. Negotiating with 159 member countries to find a common interest is not easy. What I can speculate that at the end of the day it up to the members who have to decide. As far as trade facilitation agreement is concerned, it is doable.”
On the issue of multilateral trade, Fung said: “We need to realise that over the last 50 years the world has changed a lot. The way production is done today is very different. Today more than 50 percent of trade is of components and semi-finished goods. So the ‘sustainability’ and ‘fair distribution of income’ need to be taken into account while formulating long term development goals.”
The recommendations have been endorsed by the executive board of the ICC’s governing council. And they will be delivered to G20 leaders and WTO ministers ahead of the next G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg and also to the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali later this year.
“We are urging to the world leaders to implement these recommendations which have been quantified by Petersons Institute in Washington. They have come out with unbelievable figures related to output and employment,” added Rowhani.
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