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FTAA Critical to Small States
July 14, 1997 -
Small countries could pay a high price if they do not get involved in the
expected Free Trade Area of the Americas, so says the assistant secretary general of the
Organization of American states, Christopher Thomas.
Mr. Thomas says a major benefit that would be missed is access to the most important
markets - the United States and Canada - under binding multilateral agreements.
Participation is far better than depending on the "fragile unilateral preferential
arrangements now in place.
At a luncheon meeting last week, the assistant secretary general told members of the
rotary club of Nassau in the Bahamas, that the smaller countries, the cost of non
participation in the FTAA would be much higher than the costs of participation. Mr. Thomas
says, given the prevailing trends in the global economy, the smaller economies have a lot
to gain from participating in the FTAA.
During his presentation, Ambassador Thomas also discussed the challenges the small
economies have to grapple with to benefit from liberalized trade. These include a great
dependence on trade tariffs. Some of the small countries may need to take steps to recover
revenue that would be lost when they eventually bring down trade barriers.
Turning to negotiations, emphasis was also placed on the need for the traditional
approaches to be set aside in favor of a more pro-active stance. Another step Thomas feels
could be useful is for small countries to start putting in place those measures that will
be required under the FTAA, by pooling resources at the sub regional level.
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