WTO 10thMinisterial Conference kicks off in Nairobi

WTO 10thMinisterial Conference kicks off in Nairobi

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat on Monday kicked-off the 10th Ministerial Conference at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC).

The 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO will be attended by over 5,000 delegates and Kenya is hoping to tackle several issues including barriers to international trade, regulations on sensitive technology and agricultural subsidies paid by rich countries to their farmers.

A brief by the Kenyan delegation headed by outgoing Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said Kenya will seek a reduction of distortions in international agricultural trade, non-agricultural market access and trade in services.

President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed that Nairobi is ready to host the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organizations.

After months of preparations, Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC), the WTO venue,  received a nod from the WTO Secretariat which lauded the efforts from relevant organizing entities involved in the event.

President Kenyatta is expected to officially open the meeting that seeks to improve world trade, while developing nations seek better terms for their export markets in the developed worlds.

The meeting is also seen as crucial step towards the conclusion of trade talks that have been ongoing on since 2001 under what is officially referred to as the “Doha Roundtable”.

The WTO was formed in 1995, taking over from the now defunct General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

As at November 13th this year, the global trade body had 162 members.

Two more countries, Liberia and Afghanistan, are expected to join the WTO during the conference.

According to the latest numbers from the WTO, USD18 trillion worth of goods were traded in 2014, which works out to a mind boggling Ksh 1.8 quadrillion worth of trade.

The world’s biggest exporters in 2014 were namely China, the United States, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.

The world’s top importers on the other hand were the United States, China, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Developed economies’ share of global trade stood at 54 percent, with 44 percent being the contribution of developing and less developed economies.

Africa’s share of global trade stood at a paltry 3 percent.

Tags:

kenya WTO President Uhuru Kenyatta JAPAN Netherlands Trade china UK exports US KICC imports 10th Ministerial Conference delegates

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