GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – “Our deliberations have been constructive. They have enabled a meeting of minds, in an atmosphere where views of G90 constituent members have been ventilated freely”. This according to Hon. Clement Rohee, CARICOM Ministerial Spokesperson for World Trade Organization (WTO) issues and Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Guyana. Minister Rohee made these remarks at a press conference yesterday evening, at the close of a G90 encounter held in Georgetown, Guyana, June 3 to 4.
The two-day meeting brought together G90 Ministers and Ministerial representatives responsible for trade under the theme – ‘Towards a Common Platform for Development and Prosperity’.
In addition to examining the state of progress in WTO Doha Round talks, delegates engaged in an exchange-of-views regarding common elements for a G90 platform that will be considered further in the lead up to and at a G90 Ministerial Meeting in Mauritius, slated for mid-July this year.
The G90 encounter in Georgetown is part of on-going attempts, by WTO Members, aimed at advancing efforts to strike framework agreements, encompassing key issues of the Doha Agenda, by July this year.
Minister Rohee underscored, “the G90 meeting, in Georgetown, adopted a number of key decisions on the way forward”.
The main decisions adopted at the meeting centered on steps that the G90 would take between now and the end of July; namely:
1) Advancing the working documents considered in Georgetown and the texts emerging from the meeting, with a view to feeding them into consultative processes leading up to and at the upcoming Mauritius G90 Ministerial Meeting. Belize Minister of Foreign Trade, Hon. Eamon Courtenay, in remarks at yesterday’s press conference, described this plan of action as contributing “to building momentum between now and the Mauritius G90 Ministerial”; and,
2) The establishment of a Steering Committee of the G90, as a Consultative Mechanism at Ministerial level, to facilitate inter-Ministerial consultations and effective coordination among the G90 constituents on issues of political importance related to the Doha Ministerial Declaration. Further consultations are to take place on this proposal, with a view to its adoption at the upcoming Mauritius G90 Ministerial Meeting.
Hon. Kaliopate Tavola, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Fiji, speaking on behalf of delegates gathered in Georgetown, hailed the G90 meeting as “an historic one”.
In expressing gratitude to the host Government and country for the convening of the G90 encounter, the Fijian Minister also thanked the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) for technical support provided at the meeting and its role in the preparation of documents that formed the basis for deliberations, this past week.
Sessions of the G90 meeting were chaired by: Hon. Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Trade, St. Kitts & Nevis; Minister Courtenay; Minister Tavola; Hon. Nandcoomar Bodha, Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources, Mauritius; and, Hon. Paul Biyoghe-Mba, Minister of Commerce and Industrial Development, Gabon, respectively.
The Director-General of the RNM, Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, headed the contingent of RNM technical staff – that included the Machinery’s WTO Director, Dr. Peter Gonzales and Technical Advisor–Agriculture, Mr. Nigel Durrant – to the G90 forum.
