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Ministers from Australia, Japan, and Singapore who are co-conveners of WTO e-commerce negotiations have launched the E-commerce Capacity Building Framework to strengthen digital inclusion and to help developed and least developed countries harness the opportunities of digital trade.

In a statement issued on 13 June during the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, they underlined the importance of developing global rules on e-commerce. They said electronic commerce is of critical importance to the modern global economy and is driving the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Framework will bring together a wide range of technical assistance and capacity-building efforts to support countries participating in the E-Commerce JSI and harnessing the opportunity of digital trade through providing training and assistance to help to develop and least developed countries, the statement reads.

Geneva(June 12)-- 

Director-General of World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that the world is grappling with uncertainty and crises on multiple fronts.

Addressing the 12^th WTO Ministerial Conference that began in Geneva on June 12,  she further added that the war in Ukraine and the inherent international security crisis that comes with it, the health, economic, environmental, and geopolitical crises.

This is a time to demonstrate that multilateralism works. A time to demonstrate that the WTO can deliver for the international community, and the people we serve, she said. 

 The meeting attended by more than 100 trade ministers is deliberating multiple issues relating to the world trade system. The Ministerial-level meeting has taken place after the five years.

The WTO director-general said while many members took some important steps forward in Buenos Aires – for example on using trade as a vehicle for women's economic empowerment – that meeting didn't really deliver.

 Stressing the value of the multilateral trading system as a global public good which over the past 75 years has delivered more prosperity than every international economic order that came before it, DG Okonjo-Iweala noted that at a time when the multilateral system is seemingly fragile “this is the time to invest in it, not to retreat; this is the time to summon the much-needed political will to show that the WTO can be part of the solution to the multiple crises of the global commons we face.”

Now, more than ever, the world needs WTO members to come together and deliver, she said. 

Citing WTO economists' estimations of real global GDP lowering by about 5 percent if the world economy decouples into self-contained trading blocs, she stressed the substantial costs for governments and constituents in a scenario where WTO members are unable to deliver results and where they allow or even embrace, economic and regulatory fragmentation.

To put this in perspective, the financial crisis of 2008-09 is estimated to have lowered rich countries' long-run potential output by 3.5 percent, she further added,  and the 5 percent estimate represents just the start of the economic damage. Additional losses would come from reduced scale economies, transition costs for businesses and workers, disorderly resource allocation, and financial distress, she said. 

Also, trade decoupling would entrench the development setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it much harder for poor countries to catch up with richer ones. “This would be a world of diminished opportunities, even greater political anger and social unrest, and intense migratory pressures as people leave in search of better lives elsewhere,” she added.

Various thematic sessions will take place during the Ministerial Conference to respond to ongoing emergencies, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and the food crisis.  Ministers will also have the opportunity to engage in other thematic sessions on fisheries, agriculture, WTO reform, and the e-commerce work program and moratorium.

Geneva: Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu has said that Least Developed Countries(LDCs) have been facing multiple challenges in their process of socio-economic development.

Addressing the LDC Ministerial Meeting in Geneva on June 12, he said that supply-side capacity constraints, low level of productive capacity, inadequate investment, insufficient trade infrastructures, and digital divide among and within the countries are some of the challenges.

He further stated that the non-tariff barrier, among others, has been posing challenges in benefiting from the multilateral trading system. Furthermore, LDCs are in dire need of bridging the digital divide to participate in and benefit from e-commerce and digital economy in the changing global context, he said.

Badu is in Geneva to attend the 12^th Ministerial Level meeting of the World Trade Organization which began on June 12. The three-day summit will deliberate on various global trade issues. He further added that the meeting will be an opportunity to build our common position and make collective voices heard and addressed in the areas of our interest and priority.

Least developed countries are pushing for preferential rules of origins, service waiver, duty-free and quota-free market access, and flexibilities in the broader areas of agriculture, and fisheries, and supporting the recovery from the pandemic. Similarly, the reformation of WTO is another priority agenda of LDC. 

Geneva, Switzerland: The 12th Ministerial Conference(MCC12) of the World Trade Organization commenced in Geneva on Sunday.

Trade ministers from across the world are participating in the meeting to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system, make general statements and take action on the future work of the WTO.

The Conference is co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan's President. Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020 but the conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting of the global body will discuss WTO’s response to the pandemic, fisheries subsidies negotiations, and agriculture issues and implications of the Russia-Ukraine war on the world economy.

The least developing countries including Nepal will raise the hosts of the agenda collectively. WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Sandagdorj Erdenebileg of the UN High Representative for Least-Developed Countries signed a partnership agreement on June 11 in Geneva aimed at strengthening cooperation to boost the participation of least-developed countries in the global trading system.

DG Okonjo-Iweala said on the eve of MC12, we are joining hands with the UN to give renewed hope to the most vulnerable group of countries of the international community – the LDCs. …  LDCs have a special place in the multilateral trading system.

He said: “Over the last decade, our members have provided increased trade opportunities to expand LDC exports and the WTO remains the main forum to achieve the Doha Programme of Action targets in the area of trade."

Erdenebileg, Chief of Policy Development, Coordination, Monitoring and Reporting Service at the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), said that improved trading situation for vulnerable countries has the potential to transform millions of lives through better jobs and stronger economies.

He said: “That is why trade is an essential element of the Doha Programme of Action for LDCs for the decade 2022-2031. With this renewed commitment between the WTO and UN-OHRLLS, the vital trade targets in the new Programme come closer within reach."

WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang said, “It is a historic moment. We have always worked closely with the United Nations, and today we are bringing our cooperation in support of trade development in LDCs to the next level.”

“Integrating least-developed countries into global trade is our institutional priority. And it is our shared responsibility to make sure that the opportunities offered by the global trading system reach the most vulnerable, those who need them most,” he added.

Ali Djadda Kampard, Trade Minister of Chad and Coordinator of the WTO's LDC Group, said that this partnership marks an important milestone as the international community is joining hands to help us boost our participation in global trade.  He added that the start of MC12 tomorrow will be a defining moment for the entire membership.

That's why the LDC Group has been actively engaging in the work of the WTO and we remain committed to ensuring results at MC12. A success at MC12 will set us on the right path towards reinvigorating the WTO and realizing our broader development objectives, he added.  There are at present 46 LDCs on the United Nations list, 35 of which are members of the WTO. Eight LDCs are in the process of joining the WTO. They are Bhutan, Comoros, Ethiopia, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Timor-Leste.

Nepal is one of the leading countries to take the membership in WTO and is actively participating in the WTO mechanisms and dialogues. Nepali delegation led by Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu is scheduled to attend the meeting.   Minister Badu is accompanied by secretary Ganesh Prasad Pandeya and other high-level government officials. Minister Badu is scheduled to address the meeting.