ITC, UNCTAD, WTO Opening Session Statements

Dear Colleagues,

Below are excerpts from the opening statements made by 

• Mr. J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director, International Trade Centre;
• Mr. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; and
• Mr. Mike Moore, Director General of the World Trade Organization,

to about 100 government and business leaders and e-commerce experts.

We welcome any reaction to these statements, and will share them with participants here in Montreux, where we are reporting "live". Please send your reactions directly to this email (execforum@hotmail.com).

ITC: Excerpts

"ITC is convinced that information technology and its e-trade dimensions will have a profound impact on all economies. There is need for this impact to be positive on the export trade of developing countries and economies in transition. The question is HOW to arrive at such a result. This Forum is part of ITC's response to that question.

At last year's Executive Forum, we concluded that two of the critical challenges confronting the national export strategy-maker involved assisting the business sector to reduce export transaction costs and compete on the basis of price, quality, time, and service: something we called total response capability.

We are in the middle of an electronic revolution which is changing business practice in a fundamental sense. New technologies have reduced transaction costs and total response capability. It is these two factors which will now largely determine who will be the winners and losers in the international marketplace.

In short, international business is becoming a whole new 'ball game'. Not only are completely new business models emerging, but the pressure is on existing business approaches to adjust to a new definition of international competitiveness - a definition based largely on e-competency.

For e-competency...decisions affecting national export performance and commercial issues must be taken. Over the next three days, we will develop ideas on how exporters should respond to emerging business opportunities of the digital economy; what steps need to be taken by national strategy makers to create a competitive environment; what the services should be; and how they should be delivered."

UNCTAD: Excerpts

"E-commerce and the information technology revolution are a key manifestation of globalisation. These phenomena are interlinked and reinforce each other. Potential positive impacts of e-commerce on development include: reduction of transaction costs in international trade; enhancing efficiency in the market place, business organisation and management, empowering SMEs to compete in global markets, and knowledge and information becoming main sources of competitiveness.

The potential benefits of e-commerce are not being realised in many developing countries. The international digital divide is widening. This is part of the new generation of global challenges facing the international community in the new millennium.

UNCTAD has conducted a series of regional workshops and roundtables on e-commerce. The exchange of views at these events has demonstrated the drastic changes taking place in e-commerce and the fact that countries have little choice but to embrace the digital economy. "Measures that developing countries need to take to develop e-competence, to reduce the digital divide and face other challenges in the digital economy:

• Internet access and technology must be accompanied by a host of other measures to ensure e-readiness. There is need for capacity building, especially through training, to increase the e-competence of developing countries; 
• Increased awareness of e-commerce and its opportunities;
• Promote the right attitudes and mindsets towards building an e-commerce culture;

Each country has to adopt a public policy framework to fit its circumstances, but success stories elsewhere may be emulated through exchanges of experiences;

• lack of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks and appropriate payment mechanisms; and
• increased efficiency in the services that support e-commerce (banking, insurance, transport, etc.). E-commerce cannot succeed without efficient transport and logistics."

WTO: Excerpts

"Excluding South Africa, there is one Internet host for every 80,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. In India, there is one for every 55,000 people. In the United States, one for every seven people. This digital divide is much greater than the one in living standards. Without further services liberalization, this chasm between North and South can only grow.

We are not in the business of regulating the Internet and we never shall be. I say this to reassure anybody who fears that the huge potential of electronic commerce may be stifled by over-regulation and interference by governments.

The work programme on electronic commerce now in progress at the WTO aims to provide the answers to three questions.

First: how do existing WTO agreements impact on e-commerce?

Second: are there any weakness or omissions in the law which need to be remedied? And third, are there any new issues not now covered by the WTO system on which members want to negotiate new disciplines?

Among the existing WTO agreements, the most relevant to electronic commerce is the GATS, the Agreement on Trade in Services, because it contains the disciplines that guarantee the right to do international business electronically.

Our work programme is tightly focused and strictly related to trade. We are considering the application of all our disciplines û GATT, GATS, and TRIPs (the intellectual property agreement) in particular û to electronic commerce.

It will consider the extension of the moratorium on import duties on electronic transmissions. Although this is only a political understanding, it's an important symbol of members' commitment not to impede the development of e-commerce.

There's another dimension û the development dimension, which I think should be given more emphasis. One of the purposes of our work programme is to ensure that developing countries can derive maximum benefit from the technology and are not left behind by the speed of developments.

Your reactions to these statements are welcome. Stay tuned for further summaries of today's sessions.

ITC Moderators (execforum@hotmail.com)

Montreux, Switzerland
Natalie Domeisen, John Gillies, Sarah McCue and Prema de Sousa with special thanks to Peter Hulm