WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/425
31 October 2001
(01-5260)
Original: English
A NEW SPIRIT OF UNITY AND SOLIDARITY:
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD
Statement by the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Communication from the Philippines
The following statement, dated 20 October 2001, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Philippines with the request that it be circulated for information of Members.
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A NEW SPIRIT OF UNITY AND SOLIDARITY:
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD
Statement by the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry
By Jose S. Concepcion. Jr
President, ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry
From 9-13 November 2001, Ministers from 142 memb er-countries - three fourths of which are
from developing and least-developed countries - will meet in Doha, Qatar for the Fourth Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade Organization.
The overriding question facing the Ministers will be:
Whether or not to launch a new Round?
1. The Director-General, Mr. Michael Moore, and the leadership of the world's developed
countries, have pushed the need for a new Round of negotiations to advance the cause of trade and
development worldwide.
2. On the other hand, developing and least-developed countries have expressed either their
strong reservations or outright opposition to a new Round. The majority agree that there is a need toproceed to an evaluation of the results of the existing agreements, as a pre-condition to any
negotiations on new issues.
3. The preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO recognizes the objective of
sustainable development, and also the need for positive efforts to ensure that developing countries
secure a share in international trade growth  commensurate with the needs of their economic
development.WT/L/425
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4. At the Ministerial Meeting in Singapore from 9 to 13 December 1996, the Ministers agreed
further to strengthen the WTO as a forum for negotiation, to enhance the rule-based system as well as
the multilateral review and assessment of trade policies, and in particular, to assess the
implementation of their commitments under the WTO Agreements and decisions.
5. The WTO and its precursor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), were
created with the objective of achieving a balance of world trade among the developed and developing
countries. We have seen that after 50 years under GATT, 70% of world trade was still controlled by
developed countries, despite the Special and Differential Treatment provisions in the various GATT
Articles.
6. At the Ministerial Meeting in Geneva on 18 and 20 May 1998, the Ministers stated (par. 1):
"We agree, however, that more remains to be done to enable all the world's peoples to share fully and
equitably in these achievements." Furthermore (par. 6): "We remain deeply concerned over themarginalization of least-developed countries and certain small economies, and recognize the urgent
need to address this issue which has been compounded by the chronic foreign debt problem facing
many of them."
7. In the last Ministerial Meeting in Seattle in December 1999, the discussions were interrupted
by a clamor from NGOs that the WTO must be concer ned about the quality of life for all peoples of
the world. These NGOs were one with the cause of le ast-developed and developing countries that the
WTO agenda must give priority to their needs and issues. It is significant to consider that, if after the
Singapore and Geneva Meetings the needs of the least-developed and developing countries were truly
addressed, the unfortunate events in Seattle could have been avoided.
8. Today, however, the differences remain. WTO General Council Chairman Stuart Harbinson
has sent a letter to world capitals stating that "it is not simply the extent of outstanding differences that
is worrying, but the apparently entrenched nature of those differences."
9. Rather than looking at this difference as a divide - we in the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (ASEAN-CCI) believe that it is an opportunity to come together, to instill in WTO a new
spirit of unity and solidarity that will lay the foundations for a better, more humane, more peaceful,and happier world community. The growth of world trade is an objective we in ASEAN-CCI do not
dispute, but that growth should have a human face, with definite steps towards eradicating poverty.
We believe that development issues should take precedence over other issues in WTO.
10. Consider the following facts-
− Half the world, nearly three billion people, live on less than two dollars a day;
− The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's
countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined;
− Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names;
− Less than one per cent of what the world spen t every year on weapons could have put every
child into school by the year 2000 - and yet it didn't happen;
− 20% of the population in the developed nations consume 86% of the world's goods;
− More than 800 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished,
almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific;WT/L/425
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− Seven million children die each year as a result of the debt crisis. More than 8.5 million have
already died since 2000 up to March of this year.
11. We in the ASEAN-CCI Council join in solidari ty with developing and least-developed
nations. We would like to reiterate our decisions in our Council meetings in Singapore in 1996 and
Kuala Lumpur in 1997, where we resolutely objected to a new round of negotiations that will opendiscussion on other subjects that are not related to trade.
12. The world faces the challenge of forging a just and lasting peace, and we believe that the
solution will never come until the root cause - the divide between the haves and the have-nots - has
been bridged. We stand at the dawn of a new era that the recent events that have transpired in the
world have opened. Now there is an awareness and concern  among leaders and people of the world.
Kofi Annan, the U.N. Secretary-General, has said: "Worldwide, there is a rare sense of unity, human
solidarity and purpose, that can serve as a lasting foundation for the fight against global terrorism."
13. We believe this new sense of unity, human solidarity and purpose, can serve as well as a
lasting foundation for the greater fight against global poverty.
14. Where before we thought of ourselves as members of our respective communities or nations,
we now begin to look at the humanity of the community of nations. More than ever, we feel the need
to care for and share with each other.
15. We appeal to all leaders of the 142 member-nations of the World Trade Organization to make
this historic decision of launching a DEVELOPMENTAL AGENDA, as proposed by the Tanzania
Trade Minister on behalf of the least-developed countries, and by Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This developmental agenda must address the issues raised by the
developing world in the Ministerial Meetings in Singapore, Geneva, and Seattle.
16. It is very basic and fundamental that, before a new round takes up matters outside the ambit
of trade, we should review and make an assessment, among others, of the following:
− The effect of the WTO on least-developed and developing countries;
− The state of compliance of the contracting parties.
17. Only after concrete programs to address all these developmental issues have been formulated
and launched should new or non-trade issues be considered. This must be the framework so that
appropriate interventions can be taken to achieve WTO's objective of raising standards of living
worldwide.
18. A just and lasting solution will only emerge when there is a more equitable distribution of
benefits of the world trading system among the economies of the world. As advocated by the UN,world peace can only be achieved when there is development for all peoples of the world. His
Holiness, Pope Paul VI, echoed it more specifically: "If we want peace, we must work for justice."
19. The Doha Ministerial Conference is a momentous occasion in history to capture this new
beginning, this new consciousness of peoples and countries all over this planet, to set aside our
differences and consider truly what we can do for each other. The Doha Ministerial Document can be
a rallying point for all international and regional institutions everywhere, to incorporate in their
mission this new spirit of oneness, this new sense of unity, human solidarity and purpose -- that willfinally lead to the triumph over poverty of humankind.
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