The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Ministers of Trade have urged their fellow G20 Trade Ministers to strengthen coordination in promoting a concerted response to current economic uncertainties. The call was made at the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting that was held in Mexico. The themes for discussion included ‘trade as a source of growth’, ‘trade as a source of jobs’, and ‘the imperative to keep markets open and to keep opening markets’,” the Department of Trade and Industry said today.
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the BRICS Ministers have called upon their fellow G-20 Trade Ministers to identify ways to improve the multilateral trading system.
‘We have made this call, so that all economies may pursue a sustainable and “development-friendly” integration in global trade, including adjustment strategies for their industries and workforce, as well as the appropriate social and sectoral policies to respond to existing structural vulnerabilities’.
The Ministers have re-emphased their commitment to the Doha Development Round and say the conclusion of the Doha would be a significant step in this direction.
‘The BRICS World Trade Organisation (WTO) members will continue their efforts for the successful conclusion of the Doha Round, based on the progress made and in keeping with its mandate, while upholding the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and multilateralism. We encourage all G20 economies to work constructively toward this end in pursuance of the collective decision taken at the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference’, said Davies.
According to BRICS Ministers, their countries take note of the increasing role of global value chains in trade. However they noted that many sectors, industries and even countries are not participating in global value chains as fully as some others.
‘ In order for global value chains to serve as instruments of growth and development, it would be important to develop a deeper understanding of their developmental impact and the conditions under which they can be used to achieve long term socio-economic gains. In addition, attention should be paid to not impose obstacles for the development and effective functioning of global value chains, for protectionist reasons.
In this context, it would be useful to have a member-driven process, in the WTO, UNCTAD and other intergovernmental agencies, to examine this issue, including the identification of more accurate statistical methods to assess value addition,’ added Davies.
Meanwhile, Minister Davies has arrived in Qatar to attend the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XIII Conference that will be preceded by the World Investment Forum 2012. WIF 2012 will focus on the changing patterns of foreign investment in the post-crisis global economy, including investment in low-carbon growth and technologies.
WIF will also address investment-related challenges and opportunities arising from emerging global economic governance structures, and contribute to developing partnership and policy options for promoting sustainable investment. Davies and his Qatar counterpart, Mohamed Bin Saleh al-Sada, would co-chair a ministerial round table on the policy challenges for investment and enterprise development.
Minister Davies will also amongst others participate in roundtables and panels that will focus on strengthening all forms of cooperation and partnerships for trade and development, including North-South, South –South and triangular co-operation. The other one will tackle persistent and emerging development challenges as related to their implications for trade and development and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development
Finally, Qatar has officially taken over the presidency of UNCTAD for the next four years, becoming the first country in the Arab region to preside over the organisation since its inception in 1964.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
