Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 43 • 15th December 2004
In Brief
AFRICAN TRADE EXPERTS DISCUSS WTO AGRICULTURE TALKS
African trade experts are meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a five-day workshop which started on 13 December. The workshop, organised by the African Union (AU) in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), aims to explore multilateral trade issues including strategies aimed at enhancing the region’s capacity to engage in the ongoing WTO Doha agriculture negotiations. In his opening address to the workshop, Ethiopian State Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Mekonnen Manyazewal, pointed out that the trade talks must take into account the critical role that smallholder farming systems play in Africa’s economic growth and poverty eradication.
ICTSD reporting; "Africa’s Position at the WTO Needs Firmer Stance" PANA, 13 December 2004.