WEDF 2012: Closing Session

Summary of WEDF 2012 outcomes and recommendations
 
Panelists shared key take aways from WEDF during this session, which was followed by the official closing of the conference by H.E. Mr Mohamad S. Hidayat, Indonesia’s Minister of Industry.
H.E. Mr. Francisco Pirez Gordillo, the Ambassador of Uruguay to the World Trade Organization and the Chairman of ITC’s Joint Advisory Group, thanked the Indonesian Government for setting a high standard of professionalism and hospitality in hosting the 2012 WEDF event. He said that WEDF provided the opportunity to debate and share experiences and the key now is to make use of this knowledge in concrete actions to connect emerging markets in the context of the new dynamics in global trade. He pointed out that the issue of access to information was raised by many participants in various session from both public and private sectors as a bottleneck factor.
The Ambassador Pirez Gordillo made the following recommendations for action beyond WEDF 2012 based on the crucial issues which dominated discussions at the event:

• Continue and deepen the analysis of the impact of NTMs on international trade
• Conduct further analysis on South-South trade
• Address information asymmetries through the development of trade information platforms
• Develop a comprehensive database of sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures
• Enhance trade facilitation initiatives to reduce costs and increase value addition in developing countries

H.E. Mr Yonov Frederick Agah, the Ambassador of Nigeria to the WTO, also thanked the government of Indonesia and ITC for the successful event and urged the organization to do more for African development. Future WEDF events can be improved by circulating and sharing the conclusions and feedback of parallel sessions, so all delegates can learn from the findings. ITC should strengthen its programmes aimed at value addition for developing and least developed countries, he said.
Ambassador Agah’s recommendations included the following:

• Work on trade facilitation should take into account the complexity of the issue, including hard and soft infrastructure, and measures that may distort trade.
• Provide support to SMEs to overcome the obstacles related to NTMs
• Support policy makers to enter mutual recognition agreements in addressing NTMs
• Increase support to SMEs in LDCs
• Include more success stories from developing countries in the discussions of future WEDF events

Ms Patricia Francis, Executive Director of ITC, thanked the Ambassadors for their insightful summaries and recommendations. She highlighted the key messages of the conference and urged delegates to follow up on the most promising ideas shared and to carry out the meaningful initiatives discussed. She announced that the theme of WEDF 2013 will be “export-led employment generation through the integration of SMEs into supply chains.” SMEs represent the most labour intensive part of most economies, so connecting them to global supply chains is the lynchpin to sustainable export-led job creation, she explained. Countries are invited to express their interest in hosting the next conference. She thanked the Government of Indonesia, sponsors, the ITC team and all of WEDF’s participants for their contributions to delivering a successful event. Finally, she handed an ITC plaque to Mr Bayu Krisnamurthi, Vice Minister of Trade, as a token of appreciation for Indonesia’s generous support and partnership.
 
In closing the 2012 WEDF Conference, the Indonesian Minister of Industry H.E. Mr. Mohamad S. Hidayat thanked Ms Francis and ITC for organizing the event at such a high level. He noted that the ideas exchanged can help chart a path forward for linking growth markets with each other and with developing countries. He said the challenge going forward is to translate deliberations into concrete initiatives and partnerships. The Minister thanked delegates for their attendance and the meeting was adjourned.