WTO: Liberalization with a Human Face

The following is a message from the WTO regarding ‘Poverty Elimination, Fair Trade & Sustainable Tourism’

As WTO moves to become a full fledged UN agency later this year, it is with a clear strategic focus on the key global priorities of poverty elimination, fair trade and sustainable tourism – linking our Global Code of Ethics with the UN Millennium Development Goals and simultaneously promoting a vision and an agenda of “Liberalization with a Human Face”.

The war against poverty has become the overriding strategic issue of our times – reflected in the UN Millennium Development Goals, which seek to halve its impact in developing countries by 2015. This ideal has now been enshrined in the implementation plans of the global Summits at Doha dealing with ‘trade”, Monterrey with “development financing” and WSSD Johannesburg with “sustainable development” as well as the UN & Breton Woods institutions.

At the same time, there is increased recognition at the highest decision making levels that well planned tourism can be a vital element in poverty reduction – particularly in the world’s poorest countries. It generates directly and indirectly a higher quantity of GDP, jobs and investment than most other economic activities. It’s the principle service sector activity. Properly managed, with sustainability and inclusion at the core it’s a very effective catalyst for gender equality, youth employment, social enhancement, rural regeneration, culture & nature conservation – issues at the heart of our Global Code of Ethics.

The World Tourism Organisation will be holding an event on Sustainable Development-Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) during ITB in Berlin on 9 March, from 10:00-13:00 in the ICC lounge.

We are mainstreaming these poverty related issues in our WSSD implementation programme. A central element will be the ST-EP project, launched in Johannesburg with UNCTAD to link Sustainable Tourism with Poverty Elimination. It will seek funding, from non-traditional tourism related sources, stimulate new research into ST-EP linkages and seed fund model projects for small community focused enterprises in poorer countries.

WTO has upgraded our work on liberalization to reflect the Doha agenda of the World Trade Organization, which prioritises development and sustainability. Our “White Paper on Liberalization” sets out a coherent vision for tourism and trade policymakers seeking full inclusion of tourism in commercial growth in developing and developed markets – with a focus on the form er. It also identifies priority areas for action including – reduced revenue leakages (fair trade) and strengthened linkages (local market action): balanced competition and short term safety nets: enhanced transport and infrastructure, particularly promoting increased low priced air services as part of the development framework. In this latter context we have prepared a new position paper to help refocus this issue in international aviation, tourism and development fora – starting with the important 2003 ICAO World Air Transport Conference. Moreover we are initiating work with the International Trade Centre and UNCTAD to improve tourism skills in trade negotiation and in export development in the public and private sectors in poor countries, underpinned by our web based information and learning systems.

Tourism, with all its supply chain and travel related components, has a vital role to play in achieving the central underpinnings of a more caring and sharing global community – and hence a more peaceful world.

Further information can be found via http://www.world-tourism.org