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E/ECA/OAU/TRADE/16 2 February 1984
UNITED NATIONS
ENCLISH%
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
original: ENLISH-
Third Meetinq of the Ministerial Follow-up Ccnnnittee on
International Trade ancl Finance for African Developrent
1. The a c t i v i t i e s i n t h i s f i e l d consisted of assistinq countries of t h e African region to develor? and expand t h e i r trade and financial relations with other developiny? r q i o n s within the framwork of emncnnic co-opration
.$iron9 develo~ing countries ( E W ) . In this connection Ccrranission carried the following spfcific studies and teclmical ad.visory missions to nm&r States. I t also organized tours of African businessmen into the markets of other developing rcqions for t h e p u r p s e of e x p l x i n g export
and other trade o p p r t m i t i e s . !%e Secretariat also organized and serviced n?eetings and conferences of African groups in conjunction w i t h meetings of t h e Group of 77 a s well a s other international meetings
attended by Mrican delegations.
(i) Trade
."
between Pirica. and Latin--
& m i c a--
2 . %do studies undertalken i n this area were designed t o respond t o
t h e need t o pramte and expad interregional trade ~md financial co-oPration with d w e l o ~ i n g countries i n h t i n i'>mrica: (a) "Prospects and Trade Expansion between Africa and Latin America" (Doc., E l ) ; and (h) "Technical and Economic Co-operstion between Africa and &tin h m i a in the f i e l d of Interreaional Trade'' (Eoc. .CITECA/r,P. l/" Supl, 1)
.
These studies were considered a t t h e J o i n t Neeting of Goverrnnent Cxperts from Mrica and L a t i n Pmrica on Economic ~nr3 Technical Co-operation, held i n Addis Ababa i n June 1981: whose recamendations address&. the issue of how .to expandi n t e r r q i o n a l trade. Zmng the o t k r r e c m d a t i o n s was the need to expand international trade in. order t o increase mutual m e f i t s t o the '
t m regions tkrouqh &k-~n+lj~ t h e gradud rern0va.l of obstacles t o trade, especially in t h e area of information: irrprovemnt of transpoLrt and
ccmmnications network: strengthening i n t e r r e q i o n d co-opration m n g economic groupings and creating l i n k s between existing regional trade p m t i o n i n s t i t u t i o n s .
3 , lhe businessmn's tours were organized by the Secretariat as
part of the Conanission's practical and d i r e c t assistance to the African countries t o enplore trade opportunities w i t h other developing regions.
The Secretariat was able t o carry out these a c t i v i t i e s &awe of resources
put a t i t s di,qosal by t h e Cavernvent of t h e Netherlands. C o n s q e n t l y , three concurrent African businesswn' . 'iurs frcm selected Mrican countries
v i s i t e d a s e l e c t d nLnnber of developinn cmuntries in & t i n Anerica, South
East Asia and the P a c i f i c , and i4estg~ll Asia. Indications from the reports ,.
of "he p r t i c i ~ a t i n q PZrican representatives of ranufacturers and cam=rcial houses, a l l of whcm had l e ? spnsored by the respective national clwmbers o f C a m r c e rwith t h e mnclirrence of t h e a ~ r o p r i a t e ministry, were t h a t the project had provid.&
r?n
opportunity for thm. t o est&lish d i r e c t contacts uri:l Wir counte7&s i)r. the'other reqions, The S e c r e t x i a t therefore can rightly p r e s w M a t these i t l i t i a l steps a r e . k i n u f o l l a e 6 up a t t h e national level within t h e context of economic cooperation among c?evelopina corntries(m).
(iii) Global s y s t m of Trade nreference m n q developing Countries (GSTP)
4. The Secretariat i n i t i a t e d a study on p r d u c t s of i n t e r e s t to African countries within t h e fra-rk of the global s y s t m of trade preferences amxq developing countries (GSE?), The findings of the study w& intended to a s s i s t the member States of KTb i n a d o p t i ~ g appropriate n q o t i a t i n a strategies, W i n g account of other q d 1 . y iD;nortant ~ i ~ t 1n s . pwticular, it shoulcl also h, sixte3 t h a t scme Africa? countries have already n o t i f i d t h e i r i n t e n t i o n t o m r t i c i p a t e in t h e G S W .
(iv) Xro- Arab Co- o ~ e r a t i o n
.. , _ . ~
5. I n the area of p r m t i n g Z ~ Z X & 2-mation,. t h e ~ ~ e c r k t a r i a t mdertook a preliminary study on the e=nsion of M m f i r a b trade and finance E / l pursumt. t o the various d e ~ l ~ a t i o n s in t ? ? s f i e l d . , especialpy t h e f i r s t Afro-Arab ::mxkt Cmfccalcb held i n Cairo f m 7 to 9 March. 1977.
mis
preliminary stu3y lays emphasis inter a l i a cn determining the extent of trade relations and f i n a n c i a l f l c w s inetkveenAfrican and A r a b countries;, idw.tifies certain b a r r i e r s , and-includes suggested reconmadations on techniques of p m t i n q bath A f r o - P r a b trade =and financial relations,
6. The Secretariat's other ECMJ a c t i v i t i e s consisted of a number of missions, participation i n ineetings and. conferences i n ?.ddition to providing technical needd s u p r t to African delegations countries pursuant to the directives contjineC! i n t h e Iaqc~s Plan of Action.
Consequently, Cle S e c r e + k i a t was able t o help sensitize t h e Efrican delegations, especially their group s p k - and nerjotiators on the issues under discussion and advantages d e r i v d thereof ancl on to hammaize t h e i r p s i t i o n s vithin and with other developing regions of t h e Group of 77,
E / ~ J C i A U ~ E / l 6 Page 3
7. Mith r e s p e t t o oS7er Liternational f i q o t i a t i n q fom l i k e the f f r i c a n , Caribkan &. Facif i c ,States (4CED) /F'uro~y2ai Econmuc C m d t y (PrC)
,
negotiations f o r the Successor Arrangenent t o Lome I1 Convention require
adequate preparatj.ons. Lr! ttzis conr?ection, the Secretarizt's s u p p r t included apart fm>d secondiiig one of 2% senior staf?, thz foll.m~inq technical background n e g o t i a t i q papers; (a) Sug~ested n z o t i a t i n r ; s t r a . t q i e s and techniques on
regional and Inter-KF c c q e r a t i o n ; (b) Suqqestd i n s t i t u t i o n a l machinary f o r regional/Intra-AF coopration; (c) (X~estions of warmteed markets and r e n m a t i v e prices f o r ~ f cof s
Paw
p r d u c t s .8. The Secretariat had cdso provided a d v i s o ~ y services and technical backstopping to the Nricm Group mee'sinqs and those held i n conjuction w i t h meetiriqs on economic ~'ywperation aiing developiy countries: the
launching of a global system of trade preferences amona developing countries!
t h e inter-secretariat neeting of the i~Brkinq P a r t y or, trade expansion and regional econcmic cooperation m n q developing countries held to exchange experiences under the joint a u q i c e s of ECA md ZUA; t h e f i f t h Ministerial i'ketinq of Group of 77 h.eld i n Euenos Aires, pre,paratary t o the Sixth
Session of UNCTAD &.i& had LEZI p r e c d . 4 by hie meeting a t Libreville, and which prducec! the Libreville Hamrandm on issues before IJWTAD VI;
t h e i*Ieeting of t h e Group of 77 on LSrveillance of
and
Infomation on ColranXity prices and Paw Materials held on l-;ehdlf oE t h e Chairman of t h eGroup of 77 (New York) .: t h e fourth and f i f t h meetings of t h e Coordination Ccnmittee on b i d t i l a t e r a l ~ayments Arrangm"JIts aid btrietary &operation Fmng Developing Countries f o r which t h e Secretariat p r e p r e d a note on the "implications of African p x t i c i 3 a t i o n in multilateral payment arrangaents amng developing countries" (&x, E/Kw>adde/7)
