10 October 2005 - Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, today stressed that progress in the on-going negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be inextricably linked to progress in the accomplishment of the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals.

Speaking on behalf of the Asian Group of the Group of 77 and China at the Trade and Development Board (TDB) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Ambassador Manalo pointed out that trade, especially trade liberalization, should not be an end in itself but a means to development.

He said that the importance of policy space in this context takes on a special role in the negotiations, noting that if the world is to give credence to the fact that there is no one-size fits-all-approach to development, then developing countries should have the necessary policy space to apply appropriate policy instruments for development.

Ambassador Manalo also called for greater coherence in formulating trade policy and in trade negotiations at all levels, and looked forward to UNCTAD providing developing countries with policy analysis and technical assistance in this area.  He also called for greater coherence between the multilateral trading and financial systems.

Reacting to Ambassador Manalo’s statement, and those of other regional groups expressed at the TDB, the Director General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy, stated that UNCTAD could help bridge conceptual gaps on many issues confronting the WTO including policy space.  He also noted the importance of the development agenda in WTO and stressed that technical assistance, including aid for trade, should supplement the gains made through the WTO negotiations, and should not be viewed as substitutes for results that could result from trade negotiations.

UNCTAD is the focal point in the United Nations system for the integrated treatment of trade and development.  The Trade and Development Board is UNCTAD’s highest intergovernmental body and its session in October is the principal occasion in which UNCTAD pronounces itself on WTO issues. The Group of 77 and China is the bloc of developing countries in the United Nations.  END