ECA helping African countries define benchmarks for Hong Kong meeting

ECA helping African countries define benchmarks for Hong Kong meeting
By Bashir Condé, ECA
10 October 2005

On 5-6 November, the Permanent Mission of the African Union in Geneva and the ECA jointly organized a retreat for African Ambassadors and Geneva-based negotiators aimed at defining development benchmarks for the WTO trade ministers’ meeting in Hong Kong next month.

At the retreat, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, ECA made relevant presentations on its work through the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), on agriculture, rules regarding regional trade agreements and on non-agriculture market access (NAMA). It also took part in discussions on a presentation made by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on trade facilitation.

The outcome document of the Lausanne meeting will form the basis of discussions between AU trade ministers who are due to meet in Arusha, Tanzania on 21-24 November. African countries will use the development benchmarks to assess a report which will be discussed during the 6th meeting of WTO trade ministers in Hong Kong from 13-18 December 2005.