Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of the Asian Group and China I would like to join previous speakers to congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on your election. We stand ready to assist you in the challenging task to make this Commission a success.
We also take this opportunity to thank the Secretary General Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi for his valuable statement and join in welcoming the new Deputy Secretary General Mr Dirk J. Bruinsma. I also thank the UNCTAD secretariat for its pertinent and timely preparation of documents for this meeting, as well as the many activities conducted within the Sao Paulo mandate during the period under review including policy analysis, servicing of the intergovernmental machinery, technical assistance and capacity building. These documents and out puts contained valuable ideas and recommendations and will assist our deliberations.
Mr. President, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In June 2004, Ministers of member-states of the Agreement on the Global System of Trade Preferences Among Developing Countries, better known as 'GSTP,' met on the occasion of the Eleventh Conference of UNCTAD in Sao Paulo, Brazil and launched the third round of GSTP negotiations.
In the Sao Paulo Declaration launching the round, the Ministers recognized the need for concerted action to harness the enormous potential of the GSTP Agreement in promoting and expanding trade among developing countries. They also reiterated their commitment to promote and sustain mutual trade, and to further economic cooperation through the exchange of concessions within the framework of the Agreement.
The author is the Permanent representative of Sri Lanka to the WTO. However the views expressed in this paper are personal to the author and should not be necessarily attributed to the Government of Sri Lanka.
- Statement by Ambassador S. Palihakkara, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Conference on Disarmament at the Plenary Session: 26 February 1998
- Opening remarks made by Ambassador Bernard A.B. Goonetilleke President of the Conference on Disarmament, at the Inaugural Meeting of the Presidency of the CD: 21 August 1997
- Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the 753rd Plenary Meeting of the Conference on Disarmament: 30 January 1997