WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/52
11 November 2001
(01-5643)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth Session
Doha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
LESOTHO
Statement by the Honourable Mpho Meli Malie
Minister of Industry, Trade and Marketing
On behalf of the Lesotho delegation and on my own behalf, I wish to express our profound
gratitude to the people and Government of the State of Qatar for the excellent arrangements put in
place for this Conference.  We are particularly gratified to see the excellent and generous facilities putat our disposal to facilitate our participation in this historic conference.
This meeting is taking place against a background of a series of fundamental developments in
the international community and in particular in the global economic order.
At the regional level, African Heads of State and government recently adopted the New
Africa Initiative (NW) at their Summit in Lusa ka, Zambia.  The NAI epitomizes the need to
rejuvenate the development dimension in Africa.  This initiative symbolizes the realization by African
leaders that no one will rescue Africa from the problems of grinding poverty and economic
underdevelopment except Africans themselves.  The challenge therefore, is how to mobilize our
material and human resources to work towards the achievement of the ideals of NAI and indeed the
Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community.
The fast changing, complex global economy, with ever increasing competition, dictates that
we in Africa should position ourselves at the worl d centre for development.  These developments
have added an impetus to our efforts to ensure  that Africa is not marginalized in the global
decision-making process.
It will be recalled that when we met in Seattle for the Third WTO Ministerial Conference, one
of our priorities then was to secure improved and predictable access for our exports into the markets
of our more developed trading partners.  To this end we note with appreciation the efforts of the WTO
and in particular the personal contribution of the Director-General to advocate for the extension ofimproved market access for products of export interest of least-developed countries.
We also wish to register our gratitude to the European union for its "everything but arms"
initiative which once operational seeks to improve market access conditions for products of LDCs
into its market.  In the same spirit we are grateful to the US for the AGOA initiative, indeed mycountry is one of those that has begun to realize the benefits of this initiative, in particular in the
attraction of FDI in labour-intensive industries th at have contributed to improving our unemployment
situation.  In addition to these two initiatives, several developed and developing countries have
notified market access initiatives providing duty and quota-free access for exports from least-
developed countries and to them also we are grateful.WT/MIN(01)/ST/52
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While applauding these initiatives aimed at enhancing the access conditions of our exports, it
is critical to bear in mind the fact that on their own, these initiatives are not adequate to effectively
address the difficulties facing our societies at present.
There is an urgent need for this Organization to give impetus to efforts aimed at among other
issues the eradication of poverty.  We are convinced that the role of trade policy in poverty
eradication can be further enhanced if current initiatives also aim to address all non-tariff issues
affecting growth and diversification in our economie s.  Understanding the interlinkages between trade
policy and development is for us the most critical task that this Organization is facing.
At this juncture allow me to briefly highlight developments at the sub-regional level.
At the SADC, level we commenced the implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol on
1 September 2000.  The protocol envisages the establishment of a free-trade area by 2008.  The
negotiations that Members undertook aimed at, among other things to harmonize customs
documentation and procedures and standards and technical issues.  It is important also to note that at
the launching of the Trade Protocol, intra-SADC trade was 22 per cent of total SADC trade and it isexpected that this will substantially increase as the implementation process gathers momentum.
We are now in the process of preparing for negotiations on trade in services as provided for in
the protocol.  In doing so we will take into account the current obligations of Members of the WTO
and in particular the ongoing negotiations under the GATS Agreement.
Furthermore, while still on the subject of our regional efforts, I wish to register our
disappointment with the inability of the WTO to positively respond to the waiver application of the
EU with regard to the Cotonou Agreement betw een the ACP and the EU.  Our understanding and
belief is that the multilateral trading system should be supportive of our regional efforts and notfrustrate them.  However, we are optimistic that this Ministerial will be magnanimous enough to grant
the waiver.
As we begin our deliberations here, it is important that we outline to our partners gathered
here with us our expectations on the outcome of this Conference.
Our fundamental expectation from, this Conference is a clear and strong commitment by all
Members of this Organization that the WTO will place development issues at the heart of its current
and future work.  To realize this objective, Members will have to take steps to ensure that all
development related provisions in current and future WTO Agreements are not just mere declarations
but are operational tools through which an effective and meaningful participation in the multilateral
trading system of the developing and least-developed countries is guaranteed.
To achieve this, Members have to commit themselv es to ensuring that special and differential
treatment provisions become an integral part of all WTO Agreements, current and future ones.
Closely related to this is the need for Member s to give meaning to the special status accorded
least-developed countries in the WTO.  As we have said in the past, the multilateral trading systemwill be judged on the basis of hour it caters for its weakest members.
Agriculture is of fundamental importance to us.  In this area, any commitment short of a full
commitment by our developed trading partners to undertake immediate structural reforms that will
result in fundamental reductions in trade distorting domestic support and export support mechanismswithin an agreed time-frame, will be a clear signal that there is no political commitment to address
effectively the integration of developing and least-developed countries into the multilateral trading
system.  You may be aware that agriculture remains the single most important sector in our economies
and due to policies of some of our partners we have not been able to develop this sector in a manner
that will guarantee its survival.  Without these structural reforms, which should also include aWT/MIN(01)/ST/52
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commitment to eliminate tariff peaks and escalations including all other non-tariff barriers, there can
never be any success in encouraging investment into this sector.
The reality is that, unless all these measures are immediately implemented, African
agriculture will remain backward and undercapitalized.
Furthermore, it is the well-considered view of my delegation that, during the last two years,
the WTO has done a good job in articulating the strategies necessary to bring into line trade policies
of least-developed countries, and, for this they deserve our gratitude.  This in particular relates to the
restructuring within the Secretariat of the tech nical assistance programme and delivery mechanisms.
As we meet here, there is now a revised integrated framework for technical assistance to least-
developed countries, which we are confident, will contribute meaningfully to LDC development.  Wedo however wish to reiterate our conviction that unless there is a commitment at this Conference to
increase the level of resources allocated to technical assistance programmes in the WTO regular
budget, the restructuring that has taken place will not be effective.  This is also related to our call to
development partners to increase their suppo rt to the integrated framework trust fund.
An issue which is also of critical importance to my delegation and I believe to those of other
developing countries and in particular sub-Saharan African countries is that of the relationship
between the TRIPS Agreement and the ability of WTO Members to undertake their public health
objectives.  This issue is at the heart of our continuing efforts to reverse the spread of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and of other epidemics on the African continent.  It is our strongly held view that the TRIPSAgreement is not an obstacle to our efforts to address the current pandemics and epidemics but is in
fact part of the solution to this problem.
In conclusion, on behalf of my delegation, and on my own behalf, I wish to take this
opportunity to commend the Director-General, Mr Mike Moore, for his tireless efforts to promote theinterests of developing and least-developed countries in the WTO.  We are indeed aware of the
possibility that this might be the last ministerial that he attends in his current capacity, we wish him
well.
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