Abstract Some Reflections on Strengthening Nepal s WTO Reference Centre Mina Aryal The WTO secretariat has been operating the WTO Reference Centers programme since 1997 in its member countries. WTO has defined that a WTO Reference Centre is a dedicated physical location open to government officials, business representatives, university professors, students and/or the general public where any relevant information on the WTO can be accessed via the WTO Internet site, on CD-ROMs, in print format, as well as other electronic format. The then MOICS/GON established the "WTO Reference Centre" on 25 November 2003, under the technical assistance of WTO. As a national of LDC & LLDC Nepalese people need to have complete understanding about all the WTO's provisions including S & DT for LDCs, rights of the LDCs and LLDCs, opportunities under the IF & EIF, support from UNIDO & UNCTAD and so on. A well organized and well conducted WTO reference centre can play a vital role in these issues by providing easy, updated access on relevant matters and information to its stakeholders. Background At the background of long and complex processes of trade negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in January, 1995, as a largest global mechanism that rely on rules, negotiations and consensus of its members to promote and sustain nondiscriminatory liberal trading policies in the regime of international trade. Apart from the different interpretations of the WTO system based on different ideological, ontological and epistemological differences, there seems insufficiency of basic information on the WTO system which may cause to create confusions or may not help to enable the concerning stakeholders to ripe the opportunity created by the system. Predictability, sense of profitability, and rule of law are the central components of any rule based system that can drive to the trading agents. Access to the correct information in this regard is an important condition for any trading agent. The World Trade Organization Secretariat (WTOS) has been operating the Reference Centers (WTO RC) programme since 1997 in its member countries. As of 2007, 153 RCs have been established, in 100 WTO member countries. A WTO Reference Centre, as defined by the WTO, is a dedicated physical location open to government officials, business representatives, university professors, students and/or the general public where any relevant information on the WTO can be accessed via the WTO internet site, on CD-ROMs, in print format, as well as other electronic format. From the beginning of preparatory work for the Nepal s accession to WTO, it was realized the need for wider dissemination of information on WTO matters to the concerning stakeholders within the country. Therefore, the then Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MOICS) established the "WTO Reference Centre", under the assistance of WTO Technical Cooperation, on 25 November, 2003 at Babar Mahal, Kathmandu. Services of two experts from WTOS were used in setting-up the Centre. After splitting of the MOICS as Ministry of Industry (MOI) and Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MOCS), the centre is now directly being managed by Planning and International Trade Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Commerce and Section Officer, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies 31
Supplies (MOCS). Considering the need of easy access of the stakeholders to the WTO RC, it is located at Babar Mahal, within the premise of Department of Commerce (DOC). Relevance of the WTO Reference Centre in Nepal As discussed above, the WTO system was developed through a historical process with the idea of comparative and competitive advantage of international trade; it consists of a number of rules, regulations, mechanism, instruments, procedures and systems that implies that it is also a wider and complex array of trading interests and priorities of its members. As a member of the WTO, Nepalese business community, bureaucracy, civil society and interested citizens in general need to have good understanding on the various issues related to the WTO. Being a least developed and land locked country (LDC / LLDC), Nepalese people may have more interests to up-dated and detailed information about the WTO's provisions including on special and differential treatment (S & DT) for LDCs, rights of the LDCs and LLDCs, opportunities under the integrated framework and enhanced integrated framework (IF & EIF), support from United Nations Industrial Development Organization and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNIDO & UNCTAD) and so on. Nepal need to understand WTO's mechanism, working procedures, possible opportunities and challenges to achieve the benefits from the system. The more country as a whole and its business community, academicians, university students, lawyers, entrepreneurs and so on are aware of the WTO system, the more benefits can reap the country from this global trading mechanism. WTO Reference Centre can play a vital role in these issues by providing easy, updated access on relevant matters information to its stakeholders. Sensitizing the various stakeholders on WTO matters and issues related to Nepal's international trade must be one of the focused areas of the centre. The notion of information as power, and a key driver to handle the complex business system especially in converting challenges into opportunities, mechanisms such as WTO Reference Centre seems crucial to become an avenue to explore, collect, process, storage and disseminate the relevant information to concerned stakeholders- policy makers, business community, entrepreneurs, lawyers, university students, academia, government officials etc. WTO RC in this sense needs to be justified as an important input in governing the Nepalese international trading regime. Under the EC-Nepal WTO Assistance Project, Government of Nepal has already initiated the process of strengthening WTO Reference Centre in cooperation with United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). This activity is expected to be helpful in enhancing national capacity. Present status of the centre 1. Official Status : At present, WTO Reference Centre is not formally included under the organization structure of the Ministry, although it is running under Planning and International Trade Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MOCS). Due to lack of availability of the office space in the Ministry and to make easy access to its stakeholders, the WTO RC is located inside the building of the Department of Commerce in Babarmahal. 2. Human and physical resources: There are only two staff- one officer and one non officer (Nayab Subba). There is no computer operator and office helper. Regarding the physical facilities, the centre is experiencing the scarcity of electricity, photo copy machine and printer etc. However, efforts are being made to overcome such problems. The EC WTO Project is expected to provide some office equipment for centre in the near future. 32
3. Materials for study and dissemination: There are number of books, reports, booklets and publications of the MOCS, WTO and other agencies. Some important materials are mentioned as follows: (i) For the free distribution WTO and Nepal (Nepali version) 2064, 2066 Trade in Service in Multilateral Trading System and Nepal (Nepali version) 2064 Trade Related Aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights and Nepal (Nepali version) 2066 Foreign Investment Opportunities, 2009 SPS and TBT (based on Uruguay Round and Marakesh Ministerial Conference (Nepali version) Agreement on Clothing and Textiles (Nepali version) (ii) For the study only Nepal Foreign Trade Statistics 2008/09, MOCS, TEPC vol I & II A Glimpse of Nepal s Foreign Trade, 2009, MOCS, TEPC Some Questions and Answers on WTO, 2059, MOICS (Nepali version) WTO and Result of Uruguay Round, (Nepali version) Key Issues on WTO Dispute Settlement, WTO, 2005 Nepal Overseas Trade Statistics, MOCS, TEPC WTO Annual Report, 1997, vol.1&11 International Trade Statistics, WTO 2001 World Trade Report, 2007, WTO World Investment Report, 2005, UNCTAD The WTO Dispute Settlement Procedures, 2003, WTO Secretariat Trade Profiles, 2007, WTO Doha Declaration, 2007, WTO Ten Benefits of the WTO Trading System, WTO Trade Policy, 2065 Trade and Development, MOCS Moreover, collection of the publications of TEPC, NRB, MOF, CBS, SAWTEE, and CDs, DVDs, Video Cassettes related to WTO are also available for the study only, not for the borrowing. 33
4. Number of the visitors in the centre As of the record of the centre, the number of visitors in the centre is as follows: Year No. 2004 129 2005 191 2006 247 2007 293 2008 312 2009 247 The data of the visitors show that the numbers of the visitors could not increase rather it decreased in the year 2009 in comparison to year 2007 and 2008. Among the visitors, most of the visitors are lawyers, students of master's degree of law faculty (LLM), and government officials and so on. Problems and Issues of the Centre There are a number of problems and issues in the centre that has severely hampered its well functioning. Some of them can be highlighted as follows: No separate budget and programme for the centre: due to lack of formal structure of the centre, no any separate budget and programme is allocated for it. As stated above the centre is currently running under the Planning and International Trade Cooperation Division of the MOCS. Since the WTO RC is situated far from the ministry-at the premise of the DOC, Babarmahal, it is very difficult to operate the office daily on effective way due to lack of budget on its own. As a result, at present the centre is not functioning much as expected by the Ministry and stakeholders at large. It is running just as 'rituals-kam Chalau" office. Insufficient human resources: there is no computer operator and office helper in the centre that has created obstacles in smooth operation/functioning of the centre. Lack of alternative provision of power supply: there is no supply of electricity due to load shedding. No alternative arrangements for power supply such as inverter, or generator are made available in the centre during the time of load shedding. Thus there exists under utilization of computers, internet and other e-materials. Insufficient space: there is only one common room and no separate room is available for the officer of the centre. This has affected ergonomics of the centre along with disturbing centre from running in a pleasant and peaceful environment. Similarly there is no separate office room for the official of the centre that has hampered planning, programming and overall performance of the centre. Poor furnishing: there is not well carpeting and, not well furnishing not enough book racks, cabinets, chairs, sofas and so on inside the centre. 34
Efforts for strengthening reference centre A report was prepared and submitted in December 2009 to the Ministry by Dr. Bhavani P. Dhungana, an international consultant of UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) regarding to explore the measures for strengthening Nepalese WTO Reference Centre. To prepare the report he conducted 3 days (December 14 to 16, 2009) training - cum workshop by inviting WTO focal persons, officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, Department of Commerce, Department of Custom, Nepal Bar Association, Nepal Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industry, Handicraft Association of Nepal, Trade and Export Promotion Centre. One of the objectives of the programme was to identify the needs and priorities for strengthening the WTO Reference Centre particularly on information/data production, collection, storage, processing, retrieval and dissemination on core critical issues. Major highlights of the report are as follows: The Centre does not appear within the organizational structure of MOCS/GON. This has constrained the Centre to have budgetary allocation of its own as well as long-term permanent staffing arrangements. The Centre does not have its own annual regular budgetary allocation. This has created serious difficulties in undertaking regular day to day operational activities, as well as repair and maintenance of equipments. Furthermore, in absence of official status and not having provisions for budget allocation, the Centre is severely constrained in mobilizing external resources both from national as well as external assistance sources. Due to lack of budgetary provisions, supplies such as even printing papers, toner, and inkjet are not available. The Centre does not possess multimedia equipments, LCD projector and screens. This has seriously constrained the Centre in holding interaction and other sensitization programmes. Even basic services such as photocopying and information printing from websites etc are not easily available in the Centre. The Centre has serious shortage of book shelves, working tables /chairs and storage cabinets. The existing inventory of furniture at Center's office is inadequate, and whatever is available requires immediate repairs. Currently, due non - availability of budgetary provision at Centre's disposal, only minimum amount of office supplies are made available to the Centre directly from the concerned Division of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies. As the Centre and the Ministry are located in different places and due to lack of budgetary allocation, the Centre has been facing serious problem in securing the necessary office supplies. Overall, the physical condition of the Centre is in need of renovation. The furniture, office equipments require immediate replacement and repair. The office space at present is adequate to provide the minimum required services to visitors to the Centre, however in future; additional space would be required to add some office and reading rooms. Way forward for strengthening the centre There are enormous possibilities to make the Centre functional and effective enough. For these initiatives from providing official status to centre, deployment/recruitment of the required human 35
resources, dissemination of the information, organization of the sensitization programme, and improvement of overall physical facilities are major ones. In order to make the centre more functional and robust one, some major activities suggested are as follows: 1. Official status and human resource The WTO reference centre should be included in the formal structure of the MOCS and as suggested by Dr. Dhungana s report it should have its own budget and programme. For this, necessary preparations need to be initiated by the ministry without any delay. There needs at least three professional and well trained staff in the centre one second or third class gazetted officer, one IT officer/computer operator and one office helper. 2. Publicity about the WTO Reference Centre It is very urgent and important to publicize about the centre among its stakeholders. For this following activities seem to be more practical and necessary- Advertisement about the WTO Reference Centre in the Television, Radio and in the newspapers to make the stakeholders informed about the centre's activities. Organize workshops, seminars and other awareness and other capacity enhancement programme with private and business community as per the public private partnership policy of the government. Preparation/design, publication and dissemination of Newsletter in English and in Nepali on regular basis by the centre Preparation/design, publication and dissemination of calendar by the centre Conduction of interaction and sensitization programmes on regular basis in and out of the Kathmandu valley by inviting concerned stakeholders. Installing Two signboards (one in the first floor of the Ministry and one in nearby the main road of Babar Mahal) to make the stakeholders known about the location of the centre. Recently two signboards with the ministry s name have been put in. 3. Dissemination of the information for sensitization and awareness Designing/ developing the interactive website of the WTO reference centre and updating it regularly. The website should have variety of updated materials, worldwide linkage with concerned reference centers, and, linkage with WTO secretariat. Organization of interactive and sensitization workshops for national stakeholders on regular basis in and out of the Kathmandu seems necessary by inviting concerned stakeholders Purchase of the books related to WTO, trade, industry, business, finance and policies in the concerned areas and makes them available for study, not for the borrowing. Additional subscription of national and international newspapers and magazines related to economics and finance such as The Economist, Harverd Business Review, New Business Age, Business India, Arthik Sarokar, Artha Sudhar and so on. At 36
present, there are only 2 newspapers - Kantipur and The Republica are available in the centre. Creating email network among the WTO focal points and officials of the ministry to disseminate concerned information among the officials, so that all the officials will do have easy access on important materials, forum for sharing ideas and opinions in concerned subject areas, and also will have access to WTO news disseminated from WTO secretariat, Geneva. Helping WTO focal persons and other officials of the concerned ministries to attend e-training provided by the WTO Secretariat, Geneva. Collection of the related materials (publications) from concerned agencies- line ministries, UN agencies, WB, CBS, NRB, Nepal Chambers of Commerce, Trade promotion centre etc. on the regular basis. Reprint/ publication of important documents for dissemination (e.g. trade policy, industrial policy, WTO related materials etc.) Make available necessary and relevant materials in the computers by copying from the CDs, DVDs and downloading from the websites Filing the cutting/photocopies of the related articles and news from the newspapers and other magazines on regular basis 4. Upgrading the physical facilities of the centre At present the centre is suffering from very basic infrastructure such as electricity, printer, and photo copy machine and so on. To upgrade its present position some of the major activities are suggested as follows: Buying the Inverter and internet connection to get relief from the load shedding and to make access to the stakeholder on internet and in software /electronic documents. Buying printer, photocopying machine, fax machine, scanner with enough budget for regular operation and maintenance. Painting, carpeting and furnishing (chairs, cabinets, book racks, tables, sofa set etc) the office room, and conference hall of the centre Installing multimedia and sound system in the conference hall Making partisan the office room of the centre for officials and for study to the visitors. Allocating miscellaneous and office running budget to the centre Vivid Prospects of the Centre and Conclusion Future of the Nepalese WTO Reference Centre seems very optimistic. Since WTO is supporting to its member countries to establish and strengthen the WTO reference centre to avoid and minimize supply side constraints of the developing and LDCs. As a LDC and LLDC Nepal can receive enormous support from WTO Secretariat and the UN system. At present, EC-WTO Project with UN-ESCAP is supporting for strengthening the human and institutional capacity of the WTO Reference Centre of Nepal. The Economic Affairs Officer, trade policy section of UN- ESCAP, Thailand, who visited the centre on 20 April, 2010, was also assured that there would be 37
no problems of the fund if the efforts are lucid and result oriented. According to him the most important thing for getting continued support from the WTO Secretariat and the UN system is to show commendable performance of the past support, and submit an impressive and pragmatic project proposal. Since this is the era of e-governance, our focus should be more on electronic materials that is cost effective and easily accessible for both service provider and stakeholders. For this, capable enough human resources with IT knowledge and well equipped reference centre with all basic facilities is highly desirable. Globalization, liberalization and ICT revolution (information and communication technologies) have increased interdependency among and between the countries of the planet. Trade has become as an engine of economic growth. Thus, production and trading of goods and services is beneficial only as per the Ricardo s theory on comparative advantage and competitive strength. Nepal needs to discover its comparative advantages and competitive strength for mainstreaming into global trade. In this context, WTO needs to be perceived from optimistic view. Strengthened and resourceful WTO Reference Centre can be very practical input to convert the challenges of global trade into opportunities. References Aryal, Mina (2010), Blue Ocean Strategy, The Kathmandu Post Daily, 20 April, 2010. http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/04/20/oped/blue-ocean-strategy/312672/ Dhungana, Dr Bhavani Prasad (2009), Assessment of WTO Reference Centre Nepal-measures for short term strengthening and long term sustainability of the centre, and unpublished report. www.mocs.gov.np. www.wto.org. http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/train_e/ref_centres_e.htm. 38