24 February 2005

I would like to thank the members of the General Council for the honour to Africa, Kenya and myself by electing me Chair of General Council of the World Trade Organization.  I feel especially humbled to be the first woman to Chair the Council.  For this privilege, I am grateful. 

             Chairman, bear with me.  Let me make a few remarks about issues before the Council, our work together, and the year ahead of us.  This probably is the only speech I will make in Council.   

But, the starting point, however, is the debt of gratitude owed you, Ambassador Oshima, by the General Council for your stellar leadership.  Since the launch of the DDA, last year was critical, perhaps more than any other year.  We were close to the loss of the Doha Trade Round.  The General Council under the quiet but solid technical leadership of Ambassador Oshima, rose to the challenge to ensure that the DDA was not abandoned either because of Members frustration with the speed of progress or due to entrenched positions before the July Package.  Ambassador Oshima has now joined the pantheon of an illustrious list of General Council Chairs who, when confronted with the challenge, rose to the occasion, persevered and produced concrete results and progress in the work of Council.  Ambassador Oshima, on behalf of the Council I convey our gratitude to you. 

This year the Organization will be challenged.  Difficult decisions will have to be made.  And we know it.  We cannot afford distractions, paralysis, drift or controversy.  Neither can we allow ourselves to be stymied by perceived irreconcilable differences.  We are at a historic juncture. 

If we compare, in recent memory, a similarly tough year was 1999.  I believe that together, with the necessary goodwill and resolve we will be able to respond to the challenges we shall face.  And respond to the problems that we have to solve.  I am ready to play my part and exercise the leadership necessary on your behalf, in the hard and painful decisions that need to be taken this year.  But progress and success can only be achieved collectively.  In several areas, as you already know, we have to bite the bullet.

We are faced with three major challenges this year.  First, the organization and preparation of the 6^th WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, China, in December. 

Second, to make substantive progress in Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), Services, Rules and Development issues before the Summer break.  And, third, in the shortest possible time, to elect a new Director-General for the Organization from the four excellent candidates that we have.  But beyond these immediate tasks there are the legitimate expectations that WTO must show from the results of its work (and not merely from a statement of its rules, goals, objectives and agenda) – that it can continue to raise the level of its contributions to the over-arching goals of international cooperation, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly for poverty reduction. 

Much has been achieved and much accomplished in the multilateral trading system. But as we all know, so much more remains to be done.  The inescapable dilemma for the WTO is that because it is a result-oriented Organization with outcomes directly affecting various spheres of national economic life, the organization is and will be consistently judged by real outcomes on a success and failure yardstick.  It is difficult to escape this dilemma.   

But maybe, the absence of dullness and the lack of respite for the WTO is not such a bad thing after all.  I recall one of my favourite poets Alfred Lord Tennyson, who in his poem “Ulysses” writes, “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to shine in use as tho’ to breathe were life.  Life piled on life were all too little, ….”.  And he goes on to write: “Tho’ much is taken much abides”. As an Organization, we are challenged and in responding, we need to set clear achievable priorities and provide the collective leadership to achieve them. 

The cardinal priority is to intensify our work and accelerate our efforts on the DDA negotiations, with a view to completing the negotiations as early as possible.  At the same time, within the DDA negotiations, we need to acknowledge that there are areas of urgency, themselves linked to broader global priorities. 

Liberalization in Agriculture, NAMA, Services and Trade Facilitation are vital and indispensable.  They are linked to broader national and global objectives of growth, poverty reduction and development. The Marrakesh Agreement clearly recognized and the Doha Declaration reaffirmed the role of multilateral trade in the growth of economies.  Being from a developing country myself and recognizing the importance and potential of free trade in achieving economic growth and reducing poverty, makes the WTO's role both central and pivotal.  Within the framework of the rules and disciplines of the Organization and having regard to the necessity for significant improvements in market access, we need to better respond to the needs of the weakest, the poorest and the most vulnerable amongst the Membership.  If we do not, questions will remain about the development meaningfulness and relevance of the organization.  The G8, the recent World Economic Forum at Davos, and other international fora have identified Africa as priority.  

We too need to think more clearly and more creatively about the Organizations contribution to poverty reduction in Africa. We too need to join and contribute to these efforts more significantly.  The WTO is and must remain part of the broader international agenda.  A lot of our efforts will turn on progress in the Agriculture negotiations within which cotton and other agricultural commodity sectors are being treated and which have huge potential development dividends for Africa and LDCs.  What Members already know and which sometimes needs reaffirmation is that systemic responses to the Development and the Trade Aspects of the Sectoral Initiative on Cotton and more broadly to the improvement of trade and development opportunities for commodities are key tests of the development responsiveness of the WTO, as seen by Africa and the LDCs. 

            In focusing on the priorities of the DDA negotiations, we need to keep our eyes on the wider objectives of international cooperation, and coherence amongst the principal economic institutions for growth, poverty reduction, development and environmental protection. 

These are the key objectives for our generation.  We can not simply state them as  objectives.  The results of our work and the output of our Organization need to be more directly related to specific outcomes.  The WTO, WB and the IMF have key roles to play.  Without improved coordination and coherence amongst these Organizations, progress will be severely lacking in issues on the global agenda. 

            No member – not one – can go it alone.  There is no greater challenge in the world today than poverty reduction because, amongst other reasons, poverty reduction will contribute to democratization, to the fight against terrorism and give hope; reducing the desperation, hopelessness and misery, which sometimes (but not in all instances) drive individuals and fringe groups to hatred, violence and flagrant abuses of human rights.  Growth from trade liberalization will also contribute significantly to the fight against HIV/AIDS and diseases such as malaria, TB, Polio and others.  It must be our priority that individual countries be encouraged to commit themselves to making better use of multilateral institutions.  That is why they were created.  But there is also a responsibility for sustained and effective leadership by the heads of multilateral institutions and a need for them to combine the small picture with the larger global picture.  Strengthening multilateralism is a key priority.  Institutions need to link their individual mandates to the broader global mandate. 

The non-discriminatory rules-based multilateral trading system has made vital contributions in the past half century.  The WTO works and is effective, but we must strengthen and improve it. I would be remiss if I did not express my gratitude to Director-General Dr. Supachai for establishing the group of wise men, who have produced a report on how the Organization can be strengthened.  Their report merits careful study.  Members have already given initial reactions.  Collectively, we need to pursue this dialogue and seek results, where possible, to strengthen the organization, particularly in respect of the Secretariat.  The WTO Secretariat has been a solid and reliable anchor for the Organization.  But now, we need to make sure that its senior managers merit recruitment, are well placed for the right jobs, and that its human resources are better, more efficiently and rationally deployed.  

An immediate priority is the selection of the next Director-General.  There are four candidates, but only one can be selected.  We can neither allow this process to become a distraction nor can we afford to dedicate more time than is necessary.  Our substantive preoccupation must remain the preparations for the Hong Kong, China Ministerial. 

My commitment to consensus-based decision making is absolute.  This has been the practice of our Organization.  I intend to maintain it.  Although some conclude that it is our weakness, I conclude that it is our strength (notwithstanding the frustrations that it can generate).  The Organization will again be put to the test this year in several areas on account of consensus decision-making.  But, perhaps, think of it in the way that Magnus thought of related issues in his discussions with Orinthia in George Bernard Shaw’s, “The Apple Cart”.  Magnus says to Orinthia:  "Well, what more can you ask?  Do not let us fall into the common mistake of expecting to become one flesh and one spirit.  Every star has its own orbit; and between it and its nearest neighbour there is not only a powerful attraction but an infinite distance.  When the attraction becomes stronger than the distance the two do not embrace; they crash together in ruin.  We two also have our orbits and must keep our distance between us to avoid a disastrous collision.  Keeping our distance is the whole secret of good manners; and without good manners, human society is intolerable and impossible”.   

The point of all this of course is that balance, respect for the vital (and only the vital) interests of Members in our system of consensus – based decision-making is critical, if we are, in the words of Magnus to Orinthia not to “crash together in ruin” and if we are to “avoid a disastrous collision”. 

Members need to participate fully in and support the work of the TNC. I would like to pay tribute to the Director-General for what he has achieved.  As well as for his continuous efforts.  I am committed to working in close cooperation with Director-General, Dr. Supachai and whoever his successor will be. 

We also need to provide support to Chairpersons of WTO standing bodies and the negotiating groups.  Regional groups have an impact on the functioning of the multilateral trading system.  I will maintain contact and consult with Chairpersons of standing bodies and negotiating groups and coordinators of regional groupings. 

In conclusion, let me emphasize the need for speed in respect of the tasks and challenges before us.  The current signals and reports are positive but there is still much to do.  We need to change gears and to improve our play in several areas as we prepare for Hong Kong, China.  Formal and informal consultations among Ambassadors, senior officials and Ministers will remain part of our preparatory efforts.  But I wish to assure the Council that decisions will only be taken by the entire WTO membership.  I know for sure that the Director-General and I will ensure full participation and the transparency of the results by the membership in meetings and consultations, but clearly understanding that different mechanisms, arrangements and formats will be used to serve the larger interests and priorities of the Organization. 

I thank Members, my colleagues and friends for the honour in electing me as Chairman of General Council for 2005. I am grateful to the African Group for nominating me and pay tribute to our dear coordinator Ambassador Mathew Nwagwu of Nigeria for his leadership, encouragement and wisdom.  I thank my friends in the Secretariat.  Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my colleagues Mr. Ndirangu, Mr. Wanjala, Mrs. Kamau, Lynette and especially Khaled, my husband, for his support and friendship.