ECA and UMA discuss Multilateral Trade Negotiations

By Andrew Allimadi, Communication Officer, ECA
10 March 2004

Economic Commission for Africa's Trade and Regional Integration Division (TRID), in collaboration with the Maghreb Arab Union (UMA) and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco, organized an Experts Group Meeting in Rabat, Morocco on 1st and 2nd March this year. The meeting was opened by Morocco’s Minister of Commerce, Mustapha Mechahouri, and attended by over 100 trade experts, negotiators, government officials, private sector and civil society representatives.

Hakim Ben Hammouda, TRID director, also attended and presented a paper entitled: "The Status of Multilateral Negotiations: Cancun and its Consequences on Maghreb Countries," and chaired some of the panel discussions.

The meeting discussed the impact and consequences of the failure of the Cancun WTO Ministerial Conference on Maghreb countries; shared country experiences of multilateral trade negotiations; and discussed harmonization of trade policies in order to form a common negotiating position for Maghreb countries. The report and recommendations of the meeting will soon be available on the TRID website.