Morocco regrets failure of WTO's Cancun round
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 10/8/2003

The failure of the World Trade Organization's conference in Cancun shows that developed countries are not living up to the commitments they have made at the Doha round to place development at the core of trade interests, said on Monday Morocco's ambassador to the UN, Mohamed Bennouna.

The delegate, who was speaking on behalf of the G-77"China, chaired by Morocco, at the 2nd commission of the UN general assembly (economic and financial affairs) called the WTO member countries to intensify efforts in the post-Cancun period to seek an agreement on divergences in order to send a positive message to the world economy and spur hope among poorest countries over efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustained development. Bennouna also denounced the protectionism of rich countries against exports of developing countries that are already suffering from market instability, slump in raw materials prices and subsidies granted by developed countries to their agricultural products. For the Moroccan ambassador, the target of halving poverty by 2015 is still attainable if rich countries move to lower obstacles to trade exchanges and increase public assistance to development. The World Bank's latest report reveals that the growth rate of the world economy is inferior to the rate needed to fulfill the goals of the Millennium declaration while in such fields as the promotion of education and health, the situation is even more negative in developing countries, he went on.

The number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide is scheduled to rise from 315 millions in 1999 to 404 million people in 2015, the Moroccan diplomat warned. In view of this grim situation, Bennouna urged the international community to join efforts in reforming the United Nations bodies in such fields as economic relations and countries relations with international financial institutions.

Deploring the widening gaps, the slowing of growth in most advanced economies, the persistence of serious economic and social problems in developing countries and the cut in the flow of capital in developing countries, the Moroccan representative noted that some countries are losing more funds than they are receiving, citing a figure of 192 billion dollars in capital loss in 2002, twice higher than in two years before. Reforms also need to target the international economic cooperation and the creation of a stable economic and financial atmosphere, taking into account developing countries' expectations in trade negotiations and adapting financial institutions to the world economy, said Bennouna who insisted on the pertinence of multilateralism.

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