Address

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

17 September 2004
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of Dr. K. Y. Amoako, I would like to welcome all our colleagues from the World Bank and the RECs who have made the long journey to attend this meeting.

This meeting is a result of the cooperation between ECA and the World Bank. The purpose of this meeting is to examine the forthcoming issue of the Global Economic Prospects and to help our colleagues from the World Bank improve on the draft version. I would like to thank the team in charge of this important publication for giving us the opportunity to have a critical look at it. We are sure that the final version of this report will take account of some of our views and our African perspective when looking at the issue of trade and preferences.

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of this years report, "trade, regionalism and development", is important for African countries. As you know trade is essential for growth and sustainable development. African countries have been trying for the last several years to ensure that international trade and the multilateral trading system contribute to their development. The launch of the Doha Round is a crucial step in this direction. But as you know, commitments made in Doha have not been translated into concrete actions.

At the same time, African countries have started a process of negotiations to reinforce their regional integration and to renew some preferential agreements like the Cotonou Agreement. These agreements failed in the past to realize their objectives and help African countries diversify their economic structures.

In this context the 2005 Global Economic Prospects report is quite important and will constitute a valuable contribution to the debate on multilateralism and preferences in Africa. This report raises some major questions from the African perspective. Although we agree with the need to finalize the Doha Round quickly, should we abandon the idea of preferences for development? Should African countries stop negotiations on EPA? Were African Ministers of Finance wrong in their last conference in Kampala when they urged President Bush to extend AGOA? Should we abandon the old idea that regionalism and preferences are key to a dynamic and beneficial integration to globalization?

Dear Colleagues, I am sure that this meeting will help us address these issues. I am also sure that this meeting will give us an opportunity to share with our colleagues from the World Bank our perceptions and perspectives on regionalism and multilateralism. Thank you for your attention.