Udenrigsminister Per Stig Møller (K) ridsede i sin tale fredag på WTOs ministerkonference i Hong Kong den danske holdning op til de globale frihandelsforhandlinger.
Af Per Stig Møller
In a little more than 48 hours our meeting will be over. We must all work hard to get a positive result. People and enterprises all over the world stand to gain – in particular in developing countries.
And concluding this Round would strengthen the multilateral trading system – strengthen the WTO as one of the cornerstones of the international political scene, contributing to a more peaceful and stable world.
In short: The Doha Development Round is a historic opportunity for embracing globalisation, which is easy to do in theory, but much harder to do in practise. This goes for both developed and developing countries.
Thus, this ministerial is being conducted against a changing world landscape, with neo-protectionism looming – and with unequal opportunities for reaping the benefits of globalisation.
The answer is not resorting to protectionism because: Protectionism impedes growth, stifles competition and innovation – and is simply a short-term unfair solution, which in the end leads to no positive result.
The answer is to grasp the new opportunities, which free and fair trade will give. We must use the development package to secure that also the least developed countries will profit from these new opportunities of free and fair trade.
Obviously, to many developing countries protectionism is not even an option. In fact, some of these countries barely have anything to protect. Therefore, in order to lift the world out of poverty and as we strive for the Millennium Goals, we must make sure this Round becomes a true development round contributing to a reduction of inequality among states.
We must decide already at this meeting on a substantial development package, which can assist governments in developing trade capacity and in combating poverty and, where necessary, ensure the relevant compensations.
Such a package should include a decision on duty and quota free market access for all Least Developed Countries – as the EU has already offered in its Everything But Arms initiative.
Not least because of this initiative, the EU is today by far the biggest importer of products from the LDCs. We would like to see all developed countries too commit themselves here in Hong Kong to a similar undertaking, including all products and all LDCs.
Another important element of a Hong Kong Development package should be a commitment from developed countries on more and a better coordinated trade related technical assistance. Without such assistance, in particular many LDCs might not be able to exploit better market opportunities and truly integrate into the global economy.
However, agreeing on such a development package would not be enough. We need to see a clear Roadmap for further negotiations on all issues, including environment and sustainable development in fisheries, and other sectors, which must be concluded next year.
We would also like to see further progress on the dialogue between the WTO and the ILO on workers rights.
On agriculture, we must strike a balance between the diverse interests of all WTO members. The European Union has put forward a very substantial proposal, in order to ensure a much more liberal world trade in agricultural products.
However, modern societies do not only consist of agriculture. Industry and in particular services are becoming more and more important sectors in our economies.
A free world trade must therefore also deal with NAMA and services, but on NAMA and services in particular, negotiations have not yet progressed sufficiently. A final agreement on the Doha round should also lead to an intensified South-South trade and to trade facilitation in general.
The aim of this conference is not to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The aim is to secure that everybody benefits and poverty is reduced.
According to some economists, the Uruguay Round added around 400 billion US dollar to world GDP. A successful Doha Round could achieve increase in global incomes of more than 500 billion dollar.
Here in Hong Kong, we have a possibility to work for a rise in common welfare and a common cause. Let us not close this window of opportunity, Mr. Per Stig Møller concluded.
Kilde: www.um.dk
