Recommendations given to WTO negotiators<\/p>\n
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Providing more protection to farmers against surging imports and
\nnurturing agriculture-based manufacturing were two of a raft of
\nsuggestions submitted to Indonesian negotiators ahead of the
\nWTO's Sixth Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in December.<\/p>\n
The recommendations were handed over to the negotiating team
\non Wednesday by a group representing industry players and the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
\"The negotiating team has received the recommendations and
\nwill study them shortly,\" group coordinator Mohamad Oemar, who is
\nalso the director for multilateral trade and industry at the
\nministry of foreign affairs, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Created in a series of workshop titled Formulating Strategic
\nDevelopment Position ahead of the WTO's Sixth Ministerial Meeting
\nand organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of
\nTrade, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and
\nMalaysia-based Third World Network, the suggestions came after a
\nnumber of complaints by industry players, who said they had been
\nleft out of the WTO negotiation process.<\/p>\n
Stakeholders have also frequently questioned whether the
\nteam's stance in the WTO negotiations really represented the
\nnational interest.<\/p>\n
The workshop, the first in the country, had working group
\nsessions in which stakeholders formulated recommendations they
\nbelieved were in line with the national interest. They included
\ncreating positions and strategies for talks in agricultural and
\nindustrial goods and services, development issues and those of
\ntrade facilitation.<\/p>\n
Among the recommendations for agriculture: that the government
\nbe required to protect farmers and their lands; be made to secure
\nfarmers' access to water; and be required to provide protection
\nagainst surging imports in the form of subsidies or other
\nprotections.<\/p>\n
Others include efforts to promote agro-based manufacturing and
\nensure food security and sustainable rural development.<\/p>\n
Regarding the Non-Agriculture Market Access (NAMA) talks, the
\nworking group recommended the country fight for the exclusion of
\nfisheries and forestry from NAMA negotiations -- arguing they
\nshould be included in agriculture.<\/p>\n
The group also worked out a detailed formula to slash import
\nduties for industrial goods.<\/p>\n
Development should be the country's top priority ahead of
\nother issues such as trade and its liberalization, which the
\ngroup said should only be seen as a financing instrument for
\ndevelopment. Poverty alleviation and welfare enhancement were
\nalso paramount, it said.<\/p>\n
Oemar hoped the workshop would be the first step for
\nstakeholders as they got further involved in the WTO negotiation
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
The recommendations come with the WTO under pressure to get
\nresults in Hong Kong and prevent the talks from collapsing as
\nthey did at the last ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Negotiators in the WTO headquarters in Geneva are hoping
\ncountries can iron out sensitive differences before the Hong Kong
\nmeeting, leaving enough room for the ministers to make \"final
\ntouches\" there.<\/p>\n
Government officials have reported that the Cancun meeting
\ncollapsed when countries tried to settle delicate issues during
\nthe event without the proper preliminary talks before.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Ambassador to the WTO Gusmardi Bustami said that
\nthe next three months would be a crucial time, in which
\nnegotiators in Geneva would be hard at work trying to resolve the
\nbig stumbling blocks.<\/p>",
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