WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/6
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1966)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
MYANMAR
Statement circulated byH.E. Major General Kyaw Than
Minister forCommerce
Mr.Chairman, allow metocongratulate youonyourunanimous election asthechairman
oftheSecond WTO Ministerial Conference. IntheviewoftheMyanmar delegation, thisMinisterial
Conference isunique incharacter anditwillserve asamilestone, particularly because itisheldin
conjunction withthe50thAnniversary Commemoration oftheMultilateral Trade System. Your
outstanding diplomatic skills andlongexperience ininternational trade affairs assure usthatyouwill
leadthedeliberations ofthisConference toasuccessful conclusion.
Itmayberecalled thattheWTO ’spredecessor GATT wasestablished some fiftyyears ago
onaprovisional basis aftertheSecond World Warinthewake ofother newmultilateral institutions
dedicated tointernational economic cooperation -notably the“Bretton Woods ”institutions nowknown
astheWorld Bank andtheIMF. During GATT ’sfive-decade lifetime, eight rounds ofmultilateral
tradenegotiations wereheldtoupdate itsscope ofactivities which ultimately culminated intheUruguay
Round giving birthtotheWorld Trade Organization. With thechanging global economic scenario,
WTO encompasses nearly allthemajor cross-border economic activities. However, inthepastten
years from thetimeoflaunching Uruguay Round inSeptember 1986 uptotheFirst Ministerial
Conference inDecember 1996 quite anumber ofnewvisions fortheworld trade system havecome
out.
Before wetouch upon thetwomain substantive agenda items -implementation oftheWTO
work programme andfuture activities oftheWTO -Iwould liketomake abriefobservation onsome
outstanding issues intheinternational trade area.
Firstly, inconnection withtheintegration ofeconomies, opportunities andchallenges, there
isadivergence ofviews regarding regionalism andmultilateralism. Theglobal trading system isnow
moving forward intwotracks -regional andmultilateral. Regional trade initiatives areexpanding
andhaveambitions toexpand further. Some regional initiatives aretrulygigantic, atleastinperspective.
Regardless ofthewidespread forces of“globalization ”intheinternational economic environment,
more andmore countries, developing anddeveloped alike, arestressing regional integration invarious
shapes andforms. Todate,over130Regional Trading Arrangements (RTAs) havebeenratified by
GATT andWTO since 1948. Itiswidely accepted thatRTAs arelegalandconsistent withGATT
Article XXIV.
Thedisquiet overregionalism stems from twosources. Thefirstisthesheer proliferation
ofregional trading arrangements andthesecond isthefearthatsucharrangements maybecome
inward-lookinganderectprotectionistbarriers.Herewehavetofacereality.Nowadays,mostcountries,WT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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developed anddeveloping, countries intransition andleastdeveloped countries, belong tooneormore
trading groups.
IntheviewoftheMyanmar delegation, thetendency towards regionalism should notcome
asasurprise. Itslogiciscompelling. Thedriving forceiseconomics. Access toneighbouring markets
yields economies ofscale. Costs arelowered because ofproximity toandfamiliarity withmarkets.
Regional integration alsoenables stronger competition. Inpart,themotivation isalsogeo-political.
Regional groupings willbebetter abletowithstand thepressures ofanunpredictable world, especially
ifitdisintegrates intotrading blocs. Inessence, theyarethehedge against theuncertainties ofthe
global economic environment.
Regional trading arrangements, inourview, should notbeseenasathreat tothemultilateral
trading system. Onthecontrary, these RTAs arethebuilding blocs oftrade infrastructure. Regional
tradingarrangementsarecatalystsforachange.Myanmarasfounder-memberofGATTanditssuccessor
WTO, firmly believes inthemultilateral trading system andtradeliberalization. Ourview, however,
isthataslongastheregional andmultilateral endeavours canbereconciled andregional trade
arrangements arecompatible toWTO rules, thetwoshould grow together. Weneedhowever toensure
thatregional trade arrangements arecomplementary toandconsistent withWTO rules asmentioned
inSingapore Ministerial Declaration.
Letmenowtouch upon theemergence andrapid growth ofthefreetrade areas alloverthe
world. Theeconomic reality isthatthecontinuing momentum ofglobal economic integration which
issooner orlaterfollowed byformulation offreetrade areas, custom unions, etc.From itsinitial
roleasaconsultative forum APEC hasmade boldplans onthree fronts -trade liberalization, trade
facilitation, economic andtechnical cooperation. TheBogor Declaration settheboldvision ofafree
trade areaintheAsia-Pacific by2010 ofthemore advanced economies and2020 fortheothers. At
thesub-regional levelthework onASEAN FreeTrade Areahascommenced incompliance withthe
ASEAN Vision 2020. Necessary steps arenowbeing taken todevelop intra-regional economic
cooperation between APEC andASEAN. ASEAN itself hascommenced discussions ongreater
cooperation withCER, which comprises Australia andNewZealand.
Inother parts oftheworld, theEUhasconcluded in1995 acustoms union withTurkey and
aFramework Agreement withMERCOSUR Customs Union. NAFTA willbeenlarged accepting Chile.
TheideaofaTrans-Atlantic FreeTrade Area (TAFTA) andFreeTrade AreaofAmericas hasbeen
raised fordiscussion. Wealsounderstand thatarrangements arebeing mooted thatwillachieve NAFTA
andAFTA cooperation andpolitical commitment havebeenmade forsimilar arrangement between
APEC, FreeTrade AreaofAmericas andEUROMED. APEC andEUROMED havebothset2010
asthetarget dateforfreetrade forallormost oftheirmembers.
Webelieve thattheachievement ofglobal freetradeby2010orbythelatest 2020, isfeasible.
Already over60percentofworld trade nowtakes place within regional groups thathaveachieved
freetrade. Itcanbereasonably envisaged thattheremaining 40percentcanresult fromthenewfree
tradeareas thatwillemerge intheearly21stcentury. Itshould belooked atfromaglobal perspective.
Globalization ofallthese regional initiatives isinfactthelogical development oftheprocess
ofliberalization thathasbeenadopted byalmost allcountries intheworld, nomatter howdiverse their
culture, histories, income levels, geographic locations orpasttrade policies. Inourviewthere are
verypromising opportunities forhugeeconomic gains fromfurther trade liberalization andconcerted
efforts should bemade tokeepitmoving forward withgreater momentum. Theinternational community
should make surethattheclock isnotturned backbyresorting toprotectionist measures.WT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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However, globalizing freetrade should beconsidered inaholistic manner. Thecritical issue
ishowweinterpret “freetrade”.Should itbelimited totraditional border-barriers suchastariffs and
non-tariff measures, orextended onlytonon-traditional butstillborder impediments suchasgovernment
procurement, investment policies, trade inservices, oralsoto“purely domestic ”measures thathave
significantexternaleffectslikeintellectualpropertyprotectionandlabourstandards?Couldglobalization
offreetrade beeffective andmeaningful ifsome major trading partners likethePeople ’sRepublic
ofChina, Russia andother countries remain outside WTO orregional trading groups? How dowe
interpret thenewterminology “Open Regionalism, Trade inBorderless World, AGlobal Village
Society ”?These aresome ofthequestions wehavetoaddress ourselves andalsothechallenges we
havetoovercome.
Inthebroad perspective ofglobal trade, itwould bepertinent totakeaglimpse oftherole
ofthedeveloping countries ininternational trade. Inthepasttenyears thedeveloping countries ’
contribution totheincrease innominal world trade rosefrom 1.65percentto5.24percent,amuch
faster ratethanthatofindustrialized countries. Thedeveloping countries alsoplayed anactive role
forthesuccess oftheUruguay Round andaredetermined tofulfiltheircommitments forfurther trade
liberalization.Thissuccessstoryis,however,veryunevenandwillremainsoaslongasthedevelopment
andtradeperformanceofdevelopingcountriesvariesconsiderably.Thus,theproblemoffullyintegrating
thetotality ofdeveloping countries intothemultilateral trading system remains verymuch achallenge
fortheinternational trade community asawhole.
Intheview oftheMyanmar delegation, integration intothemultilateral trading system by
developing countries canbepursued through economic andsocial policy measures which promote
competitiveness, stimulate investment anddevelop human resources. Thedegree ofacountry ’s
integration within theinternational trading system canbeseeninrelation toitsability to(a)identify
andtakeadvantage oftrade opportunities; (b)formulate andpursue development strategies within
theframework ofthemultilateral trading system; and(c)defend theacquired traderights. Notmany
developing countries currently possess theinstitutions orthehuman andfinancial resources necessary
toeffectively meetthese challenges. Supportive action byinternational community, institutions and
agencies isverymuch required.
Implementation oftheWTO Work Programme
Nowallow metopresent ourviews andassessment ontheimplementation oftheWTO work
programme. Itshould beborne inmind thattheimportant aspect ofWTO activities istooversee the
successful implementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements andconsolidate theattainments therein.
Aperiodic examination andupdating oftheWTO work programme isakeytoenable theWTO to
fulfil itsobjectives. IntheWTO Agreements andDecisions adopted atMarrakesh, wecanfindquite
anumber ofprovisions calling forfuture negotiations ondifferent subject matters. Some aretobe
completed within thetimeframe oftheAgreements. AttheSingapore Ministerial Conference in
December 1996, anumber ofworking groups havebeenestablished andwere given specific tasks.
Based onthisWTO work programme, theMyanmar delegation would liketomake abriefobservation
onselected issues.
Firstandforemost isimprovement inmarket access. Wedeveloping countries areverymuch
concerned thatthere should beprogressive trade liberalization andelimination oftariff andnon-tariff
barriers totrade ingoods. TheUruguay Round Agreement hasreduced thetrade weighted average
tarifflevels indeveloped countries by38percentandfordeveloping countries 20percent. Theprogress
ofdismantling non-tariff barriers should bespeeded upandbroadened beyond theUruguay Round
results.Reducingandabolishingtariffsandnon-tariffbarrierswillalsomakeaconsiderablecontributionWT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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toglobal trade. Inthisregard, westress ouranxiety onthepossibility ofintroducing trade distortive
measures andcircumvention.
Second, wehaveobserved thatprogress hasbeenmade tosome extent inadvancing theWTO
reform programme inagriculture, including implementation ofagreed market access concessions and
domestic subsidy andexport subsidy commitments. However, future negotiations onagriculture need
tobepursued.
Third, asamember ofASEAN, weattach greatimportance onfullandeffective implementation
oftheprovisions oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing (ATC), because thedeveloping countries ’
income from theexport oftextiles andclothing contribute substantially toexport earnings. Byway
ofintegration oftrade intextiles itwould beprogressive incharacter. TheTextiles Monitoring Body
should bemore transparent andexplicit inproviding rationales foritsfindings andrecommendations.
Fourth istheoutcome oftheDispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) oftheWTO. Thedispute
settlement process offers areliable andnon-confrontational mechanism toresolve tradeproblems, even
among friends. Inthepastthreeyears wehavenoticed thatDSUhasbeenusedmostly bythedeveloped
economies. Anyhow itisoneofthebestoutcomes oftheUruguay Round ofmultilateral trade
negotiations.
Another sector wewould liketoseeprogress inistheareaofAgreement onTrade Related
Investment Measures (TRIMs). Aworking group toexamine therelationship between trade and
investment hasbeenestablished andisimplementing itsmandate. Investment represents averyeffective
mechanism fordiffusing knowledge andexpertise, aswellasgrowth around theworld. Inflow offinance
andtechnology isessential inorder torelease theuntapped production potential ofthedeveloping and
transition economies. Italsohelps toopenupnewmarkets fortheexports ofgoods andservices which
generate thebest-paid jobsinexporting countries.
Itshouldhoweverbeborneinmindthattheconventionaldistinctionbetweentradeandinvestment
nolonger reflects business realities; presence inalocalmarket isnowfrequently vitaltobeableto
compete. Annual outflows ofForeign Direct Investment (FDI) nowamount toabout US$230 billion
andtherateofgrowth ofthestock ofFDIhassubstantially exceeded thatofworld exports during the
1990s.
While aWTO working group isexamining therelationship between tradeandinvestment, the
OECD hascommenced preparations foramultilateral agreement oninvestment. APEC hasendorsed
asetofnon-binding investment rules. ASEAN isconsidering afreeinvestment area. TheWTO should
therefore establish atrulyglobal framework ofrulesanddisciplines togovern cross-border investment.
TheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment hasmade continued efforts towards fulfilling its
Work Programme. Themanner inwhich theinternational community deals withthetrade and
environment issues willsetanimportant precedent inthisrespect. TheWTO Agreements maygenerally
beadequatetodealwiththetradeimpactofhigherdomesticenvironmentalstandards,butamoredifficult
challenge tothesystem arises when countries seektousetrade measures toaddress environmental
challenges outside theirownjurisdiction. Theenvironment canbecome anissuethathasthepotential
toreverse theprocess ofmultilateral liberalization oftrade. Trade andtheenvironment should be
mutuallysupportive.Tradepoliciesandtradeagreementsshouldhopefullybekeptfreefrom“pollution”
byenvironmental concerns.WT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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Core Labour Standards havealsobecome anissue. Itisaverydifficult andverycomplex
issuefordiscussion. Wehavenoted thatatoneoftheinformal meetings inGeneva, boththeEUand
USdelegations havemade animportant statement thatanyWTO discussion mustnothaveasanobjective
theenforcement ofcorelabour standards, through tradesanctions, norputintoquestion thecomparative
advantage oflow-wage countries. Labour standards should notinterfere withglobalization offree
trade norbecome bargaining chips forprotectionist forces.
Wehaveyettofindsubstantial progress regarding negotiations onservices. Itcovers forthe
timebeing, financial services, movement ofnatural persons, maritime transport services andbasic
telecommunications. Welookforward tohaveahigher levelliberalization oftrade inservices ona
mutually advantageous basis withappropriate flexibility forthedeveloping countries.
Asfortheremaining items intheWork Programme andforthose intheBuilt-in Agenda, there
isaneedforfuture negotiations. They could include amongst others -Trade andInvestment, Trade
andEnvironment, Transparency inGovernment Procurement, Agriculture, Textiles andClothing,
ServicesaspectofTradeRelatedIntellectualPropertyRights(TRIPs),Anti-Dumping,CustomsValuation,
DisputeSettlementUnderstanding,ImportLicensing,Pre-shipmentInspection,RulesofOrigin,Sanitary
andPhytosanitary Measures, Safeguards, Subsidies andCountervailing Measures, Technical Barriers
toTrade, Trade Policy Review Mechanism, General Agreement onTrade inServices rules, Formulation
ofInformation Technology Agreement (II)andCommunication.
Since thetimeofadoption oftheWork Programme andtheBuilt-in Agenda, theimplementation
thusfarhasbeensatisfactory, although there aresome delays andshortcomings. Inourexperience,
sometimes implementation isevenmore difficult thanthenegotiations andformulation ofagreements.
Inanycase,wehavetoreview ourcommitment inorder toachieve thespeedy implementation ofWTO
Agreements withtheaimofachieving further liberalization andglobalization offreetrade.
There isanother aspect, practised bycertain power, which compounded theproblem ofthe
freeflowoftrade inlinewiththeprinciples ofWTO Agreements. Thatistheartificial mechanism
inducted bymeans oftrade sanctions oncountries asadevice ofpunitive action sometimes forthe
advancement ofselective political objective bysuchpower. Suchmeasures areobviously detrimental
totheexisting channels ofintra-regional tradepromotion aswellastheachievement oftheliberalization
andglobalization offreetrade. Itisregrettable tonotethatsuchpractices arecapitalised bythevery
responsible parties which thedevelopment ofworld trade isdepending.
Future activities oftheWTO
Theconclusion oftheUruguay Round marked theculmination ofseven years ofarduous
negotiation. TheUruguay Round Agreements holdthepromise ofsubstantial benefits forall.The
WTO estimates thatthefullimplementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements willresult inanincrease
inannual income ofoverUS$500 billion. These benefits willaccrue toallmembers ofthemultilateral
trading system astheygaingreater access totheglobal market place.
Thefruits ofrigorous andfaithful implementation areself-evident andshould serve asan
incentive inthemselves. Butwecannot andweshould notstopthere. Much work remains tobedone.
Institutionally, theWTO hasrightly beengiven authority andscope significantly exceeding
thatofitspredecessor theGATT. Legally, theGATT 1948 legal instruments were updated asthe
GATT 1994. Today ’sworld isquitedifferent fromtheworld of1986, when theUruguay Round wasWT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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launched. Technological developments, particularly inthecommunications andinformation technology,
havecreated abusiness climate offiercer competition inanintegrated global market place.
TheWTOmustbeattheforefrontinidentifyingthresholdtrade-relatedissuesandsystematically
addressing theminthemultilateral tradeagenda. Theinitiatives andexperiments oftheregional trade
arrangements should provide onesource ofinspiration. Another would betrends ininternational trade
ingoods andservices. TheWorld Trade Organization mustbeaninstitution forthefuture. Itspast
accomplishments areconsiderable, butwemustnotdwell onthem. They must beconsolidated and
form thebasis forthefuture. TheWTO should prepare itself forthese challenges.
Toalarge extent, thefuture multilateral trade agenda wasdrawn upinMarrakesh more than
three years ago. TheMultilateral Trade Agreements themselves layoutadetailed agenda forreview
andrevision oftheirprovisions forfurther negotiations andalsoforconsideration ofnewissues. The
priority areas fordeveloping countries inthisBuilt-in Agenda could emerge more clearly asexperience
isgained intheimplementation oftheWTO agreements. There arealsomatters which canbeconsidered
asthe“unfinished business ”oftheUruguay Round. Newissues intheinternational trade arealso
coming up.Therefore, itwould beagreat mistake totreattheMinisterial Conference as“business
asusual”oraroutine stock-taking event. Itneeds tobebased onastrategic purpose thatiswell
understood, ifnotyetexplicitly agreed orfullyarticulated byallthekeyparticipants. There areso
many issues forfurther negotiations. There areserious issues likeregionalism andmultilateralism,
globalization offreetrade by2010. There isalsosome thinking infavour ofanewround. Ifthat
isthecaseshould suchaninitiative follow thetraditional pattern ofa“comprehensive round ”orthe
current experiment withseparate sector-specific negotiations? Which approach willbemoreproductive?
These aresome ofthequestions toaddress ourselves.
While wearetalking about regional integration ofeconomies andtheirpotential challenges
totherule-based Multilateral Trading System, andglobalization offreetradeintheearly21stcentury,
weshould haveinmind theprospect ofenlargement oftheWTO membership. Ifcurrent members
donotsticktotherules, itwillbeverydifficult toconvince newmembers thatWTO obligations are
abinding commitment. Should regionalism bypass multilateralism, andcreate aborderless freetrade
globally? Where would China andRussia beinsuchaworld? ItistheviewoftheMyanmar delegation
thattheWTO membership should beenlarged toinclude China, Russia andother developing countries
whoarenowqueuing foraccession.
Globalization andmarginalization canbeviewed astwosidesofthesamecoin. Those countries
which areunable toseizetheopportunities ofglobalization, willrapidly findthemselves marginalized.
Therefore, theagenda forfuture trade negotiations cannot bedrawn upontheassumption thattrade
liberalization willautomatically provide benefits toall.Globalization isseenbysome asbenefiting
aprivileged few,attheexpense ofthesecurity andwell-being ofmany countries, bothdeveloped and
developing. Positive compensatory action should bedevised bytheinternational community toattack
theproblem ofanymarginalization aspartofanyliberalization initiatives.
Inshaping thefuture agenda fortheMinisterial Conference oftheWTO, wemustclearly assess
thetrends intrade, production andtechnology andunderstand howtheprocess ofglobalization affects
theprocess ofeconomic andsocial development. Future agenda should alsodealwithconsolidation,
balance andprogress. Wearenowheading intoanewcentury, anditisimportant thatthetrading
system ofthefuture beadapted totherealities andserve theobjectives oftheinternational community
inthe21stcentury.WT/MIN(98)/ST/6
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Thetaskbefore theWTO isHerculean, asitnotonlyhastoimplement whathasbeenagreed,
butalsoresolve allpending issues andconsolidate newones. ItisonlythenthattheWTO willgain
thecredibility andrespect ofallnations. Abeginning withtheWTO hasbeenmade, anditisupto
ustochange ourmindset fromaninternal vision toaglobal vision forabetter tomorrow forallmankind.
Lastbutnotleast, thedelegation ofMyanmar would liketoexpress itsdeepappreciation and
heartfelt thanks totheChairman oftheConference, theDirector-General, theChairman oftheGeneral
Council, andtheWTO Secretariat fortheiruntiring efforts andforthehardwork thathaveputinfor
convening thetwospecial events.
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