DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
            (Joint Ministerial Committee
                       of the
   Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund
                       on the
Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries)

    ONE HUNDREDTH MEETING
  WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 19, 2019


                                                      DC/S/2019-0039
                                                      October 19, 2019




                  Statement by

                Roberto Azevȇdo
                Director-General

           World Trade Organization
                                                Statement by

                                              Roberto Azevȇdo
                                              Director-General

                                        World Trade Organization

                              100th Meeting of the Development Committee

                                             October 19, 2019
                                             Washington, D.C.


Amid trade tensions and economic uncertainty, global merchandise trade expanded by only 0.6%, year-on-
year, in the first half of 2019. Trade growth has weakened markedly over the past three quarters, with strong
deceleration across developing and developed countries. The WTO has now reduced its forecast for world
merchandise trade growth in 2019 to a mere 1.2%, in volume terms.

Historically, trade has been a powerful engine of development. It has helped raise incomes and reduce
poverty in developing countries by enabling access to new markets, by encouraging resources to be shifted
from less efficient to more efficient uses, and by allowing consumers to purchase a wider variety of goods
at lower prices.

By reducing trade costs and increasing predictability about market access conditions, the WTO has, together
with new communications technologies, allowed global value chains to expand dramatically. This has
helped drive particularly fast growth, job creation, and poverty reduction in the developing countries that
are part of these value chains. In the past decade, the share of global exports accounted for by trade from
one developing country to another has risen from a quarter to a third of total exports.

In addition, trade is also a central element of the Sustainable Development Goals. If a broadly open global
economy has stimulated growth and raised living standards in developing countries, then higher trade
barriers threaten to slow or even reverse some of these gains. Rising trade tensions negatively affect trade's
potential to contribute to poverty reduction.

It is therefore imperative to ease, and reverse, ongoing trade conflicts. Developing countries must be able
to count on the multilateral trading system to maintain stability and predictability in international markets
- and as a forum in which their voices are heard. Much of the current tensions over trade stem from
dissatisfaction with the wider distribution of the benefits of the modern economy, trade included. While
domestic policies are the principal line of response to distributional concerns, there is a lot that the trading
system can do to foster growth that is more inclusive. The WTO remains committed to enhancing the
participation of developing countries in international trade. One example of this commitment is the WTO's
Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) which entered into force in 2017. The TFA contains innovative
flexibilities that have allowed least-developed and developing countries to implement the agreement at a
pace appropriate to their development needs and priorities, while receiving any technical assistance they
require. The WTO has also worked closely with the World Bank and other partners to ensure access to trade
finance for developing and least developed countries.

In addition, ongoing discussions on WTO reform provide an opportunity to make trade and trade rules more
responsive to the demands of today's economy in ways that align with the SDGs' core goals of social
inclusion and environmental sustainability. This includes current negotiations on sectors that ensure the
livelihood of millions of vulnerable citizens around the world, such as agriculture and fisheries. Initiatives
led by like-minded groups of WTO members in areas of e-commerce, small businesses, women's economic
empowerment, and investment facilitation also offer potential to spread the benefits of trade more broadly.

As these debates unfold, maximising the role of trade in poverty reduction should be an important focus in
these discussions, helping to ensure that the trading system works for everybody.




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