Annan encourages trade among poor states

Annan encourages trade among poor states

Andrew Hay, Reuters, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Poor nations can benefit from boosting trade among themselves
at the same time as they fight for greater access to developed
countries and broader worldwide trade, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said on Monday.

Opening a 180-nation UN trade and development summit in
Brazil, Annan told poor nations to increase pressure on wealthy
states for access to farm markets and slash tariff barriers to
combat what he called "discrimination" in global trade.

But he added that poor nations stand to gain as well from
broader trade among themselves.

"Trade among poor countries, in so-called South-South
agreements, will not interfere with WTO talks," Annan told
delegates in Sao Paulo. "If they reduce tariffs among themselves
by half they would get US$15.5 billion in additional trade."

The World Trade Organization's Director General Supachai
Panitchpakdi told Reuters on the sidelines of the 11th UN
Conference on Trade and Development that rich and poor nations
were still far from breaking a deadlock on world trade talks.

Slow progress in so-called North-South talks between developed
and developing nations has renewed interest among poorer
countries to seek out agreements with other poor countries.

Presiding at the opening ceremony, Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva told delegates developing countries should
reduce tariffs among themselves "without having to reduce them to
developed countries".

He called for a "new economic and trade geography" favoring
poorer people and poorer countries.

"It's a new geography to build the confidence of the majority
of the planet. It will soon bring better understanding between
rich and poor," said the former metal worker, Brazil's first
working-class president.

More than 40 percent of developing country exports are to
other developing countries and trade is increasing at a rate of
11 percent a year, the UN said.

Poor nations' access to lucrative farm markets is an obstacle
as a July deadline looms in the Doha development round of WTO
talks meant to create an extra $500 billion for the world
economy.

Annan said the Doha round would only succeed if poor nations
were granted full access to the markets of the industrialized
world and farm subsidies were eliminated.

"Such an outcome would strike a blow not only for coherence,
but for development and justice too," he said.

"Coherence" is Unctad's new watchword, a reference to
preparing poorer nations' legal systems, infrastructure and
business regulations to attract investment and trade in a
globalized world.

The European Union has offered to eliminate export subsidies,
and reduce other tariffs and barriers to farm trade with poor
nations.

The United States said on Sunday it recognized that farm trade
was the key to reaching a July deal and would push to prevent
another collapse of talks like that in Cancun, Mexico, last
September.

As police helicopters buzzed overhead, some 1,000 protesters
from Brazilian unions and landless movements marched toward the
conference center, which is surrounded by metal fences and
thousands of police and soldiers.