VIVAnews - The end of Indonesia’s leadership does not also mean the end of the country’s commitment and roles in tariff discussion within the framework of Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP).
The statement was delivered by the President of GSTP Participant Committees, who is also Indonesia’s Permanent Representative for the UN, WTO and other international organizations, Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani while leading the 27th session of the committees’ meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday, April 23.
According to the Indonesian Permanent Representative Office (PTRI) in Geneva, GSTP is the framework of economic/ trade cooperation among developing countries that are the members of group 77 and China in the effort to improve trading through tariff preferences. GSTP consists of 43 members.
At the meeting, Djani also affirmed Indonesia’s determination to encourage the completion of GSTP discussion. In fact, the Indonesian government is currently preparing its schedule of concessions to be proposed by mid year. “We expect other developing countries to also submit the list of to-be-discussed tariffs on time,” she said.
As the head of the committees, Indonesia has been playing its role as the bridge builder among developing countries with different levels of economic development in achieving shared prosperity.
Indonesia’s leadership was marked by several events such as the Ministerial Meeting (PTM) of GSTP Participant Committees during the PTM of United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XII in Accra, Ghana in April 2008, which was resulted in the Ministerial Joint Communique.
Jenewa PTRI Minister Counselor Rina Soemarno said as a follow-up to the Communique, a modality to hold a discussion sessions during the GSTP Ministerial Meeting in December 2009 has been established.
At the tariff discussion’s third round, otherwise known as the Sao Paolo Round, 22 participating countries declared their intentions to participate in the discussion, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Indonesia has ratified the GSTP Agreement through the Presidential Decree No 34/ 1989 on GSTP Agreement Legalization.
Indonesia has been helming the GSTP Participant Committees since 2007 and has passed on the torch to Egypt that will be leading the committees for the period of 2010-2011. The committees are the highest level of body in the GSTP discussion that are responsible for membership issues and discussion activities.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
