Trade liberalization disadvantageous to small economies says minister for external affairs
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Contact: Claudia Monlouis
Thursday, December 3, 2009 – Saint Lucia's Minister for International Trade and External Affairs Honourable Rufus Bousquet, was unflattering in his accusations against developed countries at the recently concluded 7th Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in Geneva when, he spoke on December 02nd.
Minister Bousquet was forthright in his articulation that developing countries such as his homeland Saint Lucia, and the Caribbean, are suffering from the disadvantages imposed at the hands of the architects of international trade liberalization.
“We were told that economic liberalization coupled with trade liberalization, would unleash the latent economic potential of small vulnerable economies like Saint Lucia. Mr. Chair, despite swallowing the bitter pill of economic liberalization, and despite our attempts to adhere to our obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement, we are still in search of the economic promise land,” Bousquet said.
Minister Bousquet in his address to the ministerial meeting, emphasized that while challenges have compounded for small economies in the face of the global economic crisis, their more developed counterparts are applying trade interventions to support their critical sectors.
According to the external affairs minister it has been widely reported that some of the most fervent promoters of the free market, “now apply robust, and sometimes trade distorting market interventions” while counterparts in developing countries are continuing to deal with rising unemployment, empty factory shells and anaemic domestic sectors. |
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