Bangladesh is expecting to bag some points for the LDCs from the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi although the trade negotiations are facing challenges on the whole.
Bangladesh Commerce Minister and the LDCs Coordinator Tofail Ahmed spoke of the hopes yesterday. WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell expressed frustration saying negotiation was impressive but there are fears it could be turned down anytime due to a huge number of contentious issues.
“We hope we will achieve something good,” Tofail told reporters on the sidelines of the conference yesterday, as officials continued negotiating on key trade issues with just a day left to settle a wide range of disputes.
“We are working for the LDCs as a group … We will be successful,” said Tofail.
However, the minister’s high hopes run counter to the overall temperament of the conference as Keith Rockwell told a press conference yesterday afternoon that “the gap among the members is too broad and too deep to negotiate.”
Tofail, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction that the LDCs will get relaxed rules of origin for their exports, which will also help boost exports.
WTO members resolved the rules of origin issue and the clean text has been submitted to the facilitators.
He also said that the differences between developing and developed countries over agriculture subsidy would not affect what the LDCs are expecting to gain.
“It is a common stand of the LDCs taken through discussions,” said the minister.
“Their differences would not affect Bangladesh or other countries in the LDCs due to exemptions,” M Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in Geneva, told the Dhaka Tribune. He was, however, skeptical about the overall outcome of the conference.
He said the market access issues were being discussed, but two disputed components – domestic support and export competition – have been kept aside as of yesterday afternoon.
If a part of the negotiation could be agreed, it would be included in the text of the expected Nairobi declaration. He was still unsure about whether a declaration would be made here.
