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Botswana Calls For Aid For Trade |
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 Landlocked Countries Need Special Attention, Says Moroka
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Neo Moroka, has called for special attention to be given to the problems and challenges of landlocked developing countries.
Speaking at a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) debate in Ghana last week, Moroka said a country like Botswana, which is classified as middle-income, remains marginalized in the multilateral trading system largely because of its geographic position.
Moroka emphasized that Aid for Trade needs to be operationalized as a matter of urgency if it is to help developing countries like Botswana to integrate into the world economy. The process should not contingent upon the conclusion of WTO negotiations, because Aid for Trade is not a part of the single-undertaking.
Botswana is convinced that she stands to benefit greatly from initiatives such as Aid for Trade. Moroka said this initiative should present a useful tool in addressing supply-side constraints and market access challenges, particularly in respect to infrastructure constraints, trade policy and negotiation skills constraints, low competiveness of exports, as well as a lack of adequate regional trade facilitation measures.
Globalization is multi-faceted, with many important dimensions ranging from the economic and social, to the political and environmental, among others. “These affect us as world populations in many different ways. It has been established today that the implications of globalization range from the trade and investment flows to changes that we see in our everyday lives. This is in the context of the balance in multilateral trading system, on the one hand, and the trade and development related consequences of climate change and migration, on the other,” he said.
He said it was important that all countries, particularly African countries and the least developed countries maximize the benefits and opportunities of the phenomenon of globalization, while at the same time minimizing its costs, for development.
Moroka said Botswana is affected by globalization in a number of ways, including international trade, international flows of finance and capital, as well as the impact of globalization on the neighbouring countries’ economies. “This is for a multiplicity of reasons, including the fact that we are landlocked”.
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