Business Times (Malaysia) | February 17, 2004
THE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) reminded governments not to be enticed by the short-term gains of bilateral trade pacts because smaller and weaker countries would never fully benefit from such deals.
ICC secretary-general Maria Livanos Cattaui said that bilateral agreements can be complementary but should not substitute a multilateral trading system.
"If a powerful economy enters into a bilateral agreement with a weaker economy, it's going to be the strong dictating to the weak.
"The only insurance and guarantee of rights (of the small and the weak countries) is the multilateral rules- based trading system," she said.
Cattaui was speaking at a press conference after delivering a luncheon address on "Crucial Issues Threatening International Business and World Economy" in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Earlier, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz launched ICC Malaysia.
Also present at the launch was ICC Malaysia chairman and Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Datuk Mustafa Mansur.
The ICC is the world's largest and most representative business organisation with members ranging from the biggest multinationals to small companies, which are drawn from all business sectors.
Cattaui acknowledged that there are immediate benefits for businesses in the countries that sign bilateral agreements, but that the signatories have to exercise caution.
She said it is important for World Trade Organisation (WTO) members to resume their trade talks.
The WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, last year collapsed largely because of differences over reducing the subsidies for agriculture.
Cattaui said ICC members need to tell their respective governments not to practise protectionism, and to go back to the negotiating table.
She also noted that increasing intra-regional trade in East Asia should not end in an exclusionary and discriminatory trading bloc.
In the long run, she added, the large market that is represented by the US and the European Union needs to be part of the East Asian trading process.
"(There should be a) delicate balancing mechanism of the system to keep both intra-regional and extra-regional trade and investment at a proportionate level," Cattaui said.Business Times (Malaysia):
