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Thursday, November 26, 2020 / 06:27 PM / by World Trade Organization / Header Image Credit: World Trade Organization
In remarks on 25 November to the 54th session of the
Joint Advisory Group that oversees the work of the International Trade Centre
(ITC), WTO Deputy Director-General Yonov Frederick Agah argued that open
international trade, together with efforts to ensure the benefits from economic
activity are widely shared, would be necessary to repair the social and
economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He praised ITC's work to
connect small businesses to markets, empower women and young people, and
promote the adoption of greener business practices.
The full text of his speech is below:
Thank you, Chairperson (Ambassador Molokomme of
Botswana) - and please let me express my warm and heartfelt congratulations to
you for taking on this role.
Let me also thank Ambassador Kauppi and Ambassador
Hakala of Finland for their contributions to ITC.
Secretary-General Kituyi
Executive Director Coke-Hamilton
Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
Hosting the ITC Joint Advisory Group has become an
annual privilege for us at the WTO. However, since this is the first JAG for
Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, I wish to once again congratulate you
on your appointment. I also commend Deputy Executive Director Dorothy Tembo for
ably holding the fort during the transition period.
Like so many things this year, today's meeting is a
bit different from the gatherings we in the trade and development community
have grown accustomed to.
But this unusual format - online, and late in the year - is perhaps appropriate for discussing ITC's record of achievement in the
unusual circumstances of the worst global pandemic, and deepest economic
downturn, of our lifetimes. We will review ITC's work in 2019 as well.
Today also provides a good occasion to look to the
future - and to look at how the WTO can work along with ITC and UNCTAD to
ensure that trade plays its part to foster a strong, environmentally
sustainable, and socially inclusive recovery from COVID-19.
Good jobs will be central to making the recovery
inclusive. And that means a critical role for micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (MSMEs), which account for the vast majority of job creation in all
economies.
The task ahead is enormous. At the beginning of this
year, extreme poverty and hunger had been declining for decades - though not
fast enough for the Sustainable Development Goal targets. Now, the pandemic has
reversed years of progress on both fronts.
The International Labour Organization estimates that
the equivalent of 495 million full time jobs were lost during the first two
quarters of 2020, representing over 17% of total global employment. It projects
that only half of these losses will be made up by the end of this year.
The pandemic threatens to widen social and economic
inequalities of every kind.
At the international level, governments with high
borrowing capacity have been able to provide a substantial measure of support
to businesses and households. But such support has been much more limited where
governments are more financially constrained, particularly in many least
developed countries.
Within countries around the world, MSMEs have been hit
especially hard. They have less cushion than their larger counterparts to
absorb economic shocks and are over-represented in the face-to-face sectors - such as travel, accommodation and food services - most exposed to a contagious
disease outbreak.
Within households, schooling has been disrupted for
billions of children, with educational outcomes getting steadily worse down the
income ladder. Women have borne the brunt of the ongoing crisis, both in the
labour market, where they are disproportionately represented in affected
sectors, and in the home, where they too frequently are expected to shoulder
the bulk of the care burden.
Global trade has, thus far, held up better than many
had expected, though WTO economists still expect merchandise trade to shrink by
9% this year. Fiscal and monetary support have helped prop up demand, and the
scope of new trade restrictions has been relatively modest. Many of the export
controls on food and medical supplies introduced early in the pandemic have
been rolled back. Governments have cooperated with the WTO's monitoring
efforts.
But, even as promising vaccines offer hope for the
year ahead, new waves of COVID-19 are disrupting economic activity and
provoking new job losses. Prolonged economic misery will almost certainly
amplify calls for protectionist trade policies.
The task facing us is two-fold. First, we must keep
international markets broadly open, and continue the process of reforming the
WTO and the global trade rulebook to respond to new commercial realities. This
is a prerequisite for realizing the gains that come with increased
specialization, scale and consumer choice, together with the freer movement of
ideas and technology.
And second, we must ensure that the benefits from
trade, and from economic activity in general, are widely shared. This includes
efforts to ensure that businesses of all sizes are able to tap into
international market opportunities.
In this context, ITC's work to promote 'good trade' has taken on even greater importance. Connecting small businesses to markets,
empowering women and young people, adopting greener business practices - all go
to the heart of building back a better global economy.
The 2019 annual report speaks to ITC's achievements on
this front before the COVID-19 outbreak. ITC continued to develop new market
intelligence tools aimed at MSMEs. The SheTrades initiative connected
women-owned businesses to each other and to buyers in a growing number of
countries, from West Africa to the Caribbean. In the Gambia, a multi-year
project found new ways to empower young entrepreneurs.
ITC has responded to the pandemic by providing MSMEs
with analysis and tools to cope with the day-to-day disruptions to their
operations. This has included ramping up existing efforts to help small
businesses pivot to e-commerce, as well as to reduce their environmental
footprints. In Morocco, ITC is helping textile manufacturers connect to booming
international demand for personal protective equipment. In Myanmar, it is
working with communities to develop guidelines for safe and responsible tourism.
Across Africa, it is working to equip businesses to access trade finance and
make the most of the opportunities presented by the new African Continental
Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
ITC is expanding its presence on the ground in
countries, leveraging relationships with the UN resident coordinator system. It
is also in the process of articulating a new strategic plan to guide its
activities in the coming years.
At the WTO, the 90-member Informal Working Group on
MSMEs recently finalized technical work on a package of recommendations to
facilitate the participation of smaller businesses in international trade.
These include urging members to provide more MSME-related information during
trade policy review, and to give a voice to small businesses in trade-related
regulatory processes. The voluntary recommendations, which will be formally
adopted by the end of the year, specifically call on members to provide up-to-date
information to the Global Trade Helpdesk. I should say here that ITC's
Executive Director has kindly agreed to take part in the event in December
where this package will be presented to the private sector.
In conclusion, I believe ITC deserves our congratulations
for its work over the past two years.
I hope that ITC will continue to flourish and realize
its mandate to show that trade really works, especially at this moment in
history when we urgently need more inclusive growth - and more inclusive trade.
Thank you.
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