APEC Kuala Lumpur Workshop to Help Developing Economies in WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations
Increasing the skills of trade officials from developing economies in WTO trade facilitation negotiations was the aim of an APEC workshop in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Jointly hosted by the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the workshop examined issues involved in the negotiation of WTO trade facilitation issues.
With APEC's extensive experience in promoting trade facilitation efforts at a regional level, the workshop brought trade and customs officials together with business representatives from APEC Member Economies to share their knowledge.
The workshop was particularly important following the launch in August last year of multilateral negotiations on trade facilitation as part of the current round of WTO negotiations. These trade facilitation negotiations aim to expedite the movement, clearance and release of cross-border cargo and thereby lower business costs. The workshop aimed to improve the awareness of the trade regulations, fees and formalities that each economy applies to the movement of goods across their borders.
The Chair of the WTO Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation, Ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob of Malaysia, addressed the workshop on the current status and future directions of the WTO negotiations.
Guest speakers included government and business representatives from various APEC economies, as well as Geneva-based trade negotiators who are at the centre of current WTO negotiations.
Australia's Acting High Commissioner to Malaysia, Mr. Simon Merrifield, said he hoped the workshop would benefit individual economies as well as contributing to a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda round of WTO negotiations.
"A positive outcome on trade facilitation would be one of the key achievements of the Doha Round, one that would deliver tangible and lasting benefits for business", Mr. Merrifield said in opening the workshop.
"APEC has led the way in trade facilitation reform, and I am confident this wealth of experience will yield positive lessons for the WTO negotiations".
The workshop was facilitated by Mr Andrew Stoler, Executive Director of the International Institute for Business, Economics and Law at the University of Adelaide. Mr Stoler is a former Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and currently serves as the Director of the private-sector, not-for-profit Trade Facilitation Alliance.
A report on the workshop outcomes will be presented to the next session of APEC's WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group.