Address

By Mr. Hakim Ben Hammouda,
Director of Trade and Regional Integration Division (TRID),
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

09 November 2004
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Honourable Members of Parliaments,
Distinguished Delegates,
Mr. Hess,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure indeed to, on behalf of our Executive Secretary Mr. K.Y. Amoako and my own behalf welcome you all to ECA and Addis Ababa.

The theme of your deliberations for the coming few days is perhaps one of the most significant assessment undertaking being conducted not only in this region but in many regions of Africa and most definitely in many developing countries.

Your deliberations come at a time when maximum efforts are being exerted by the WTO and its Member States to resurrect and revitalize the WTO 5th Ministerial Meeting of September 2003 in Cancun Mexico, which as you very well know ended inconclusively largely due to the intransigence of the developed world and mainly over dispute over agriculture and other related development issues of the Doha Development Agenda. It also comes at a time when the ACP group of States the majority of which are African countries, are locked in an intense negotiations with the European Union which is determined to replace the current non reciprocal trade by a reciprocal trading arrangement with the Community. In this connection we are also keenly aware of the great efforts in progress of negotiations for regional integration in the continent and also efforts at enhancing further the South - South cooperation not only in trade issues but also in the broader development areas.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have many daunting challenges ahead of us. We live at a time of flawed Multilateral arrangement the ramification of which does not augur well particularly for Africa which means that we have to remain engaged until the quest for Fair Trade holds ground.

The WTO regime is beginning to reflect the new reality of the globalization of markets and the fact that trade now represents a significant and growing proportion of economic activity for most of the principal players. We are also aware that trade is the engine of growth and among other development factors one of the best vehicles out of poverty.

However, in an increasingly competitive international trading environment Africa stands at a distinct disadvantage the reasons for which are too numerous to catalogue it here but I am sure you are very much aware of.

But what are the major challenges in the international trading arrangements?

Well, let me illustrate a few and in this respect start with agriculture since agriculture is at the heart of our economies. Even where agriculture is not the major contributor to GDP and exports, it is the major source of employment and income. In a context where poverty is heavily concentrated in rural areas, the development of agriculture, Agri- processing and other rural based economic activities is critical to addressing the attainment of poverty alleviation objectives of the MDG's.

In this case then, what are the factors in the international trading environs that denies Africa to draw maximum benefits from its comparative advantages in agriculture vis a vis the rest of the world? The most outstanding obstacle in this respect lies in the issue of subsidies doled out essentially by the US, EU and Japan.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let's for a moment take a glance at the EU trade policy towards Africa, since the EU is the largest trading partner with the continent. In its proposition of the Economic Partnership Agreements, it has, in its future relations with the ACP countries the strong commitment to believe that if ACP countries progressively liberalize and open up their economies then pro - poor development will follow. According to the EU Commission these benefits will primarily flow from their membership of a larger integrated economic area with predictable, stable and transparent policies. The creation of this large economic area, will bring benefits with regard to: the exploitation of economies of scale; the development of increased specialization, increased competitiveness, attractiveness to foreign investment; increased intra-regional trade flows; increased trade with the EU and increased trade with the rest of the world. This if maintained, will ultimately promote more sustainable forms of economic and social development in the ACP countries.

Well, and as often said, "The devil is in the detail" so this calls for a rigorous and critical reflection on your part on each of these alleged benefits in turn. However suffice it to say that if you treat unequal partners equally, you will most definitely end up with unequal outcomes. Further more the human constraints with particular attention to the ravages of the pandemic HIV/AIDS and the physical constraints on the capacity of the majority of African economies to produce competitively need to be addressed before any introduction of free trade with an economic giant like the EU.

Finally, and just to bring you on board with some of ECA's activities in the trade fora, you may wish to know that we have been fully engaged among other things, in the preparation of several focused studies on the impacts of any moves towards liberalization under the current multilateral trade regime of the WTO and EPA under the EU. We have conducted several workshops, prepare policy briefs for African trade negotiators ahead of every major conferences or negotiations on trade in an attempt at augmenting the negotiating capacities of African negotiators. We are happy in this respect to acknowledge the support and collaborative efforts of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

With these few reflections and remarks which we are certain your workshop will carry further, let me wish you Honourable Member of Parliaments, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen a productive deliberations.

It is therefore my singular honour to declare this workshop open and wish you a happy stay in Addis Ababa.