Monday, August 3, 2015
Cabinet Secretary Amb. Amina Mohamed has said that Kenya is ready to host the 10th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC10) in December this year.
The Conference, which is scheduled to be held in Nairobi at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) is expected to draw over 7,000 participants among them delegates, civil society representatives and the media.
The Cabinet Secretary was speaking in Geneva during the Information Session on the logistical preparations for the 10th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference.
During the Session, Amina Mohamed, as chair of the MC10, updated the Permanent Representatives of WTO member states on the state of play in logistical preparations for the Conference.
She informed the Representatives that a National Preparatory Committee, comprising 10 sub-committees, was overseeing the preparatory process and all requisite arrangements are in place and on schedule.
“The 10 sub-committees are dedicated to specific aspects of the Conference namely conference facilities, security, registration and accreditation, hotel accommodation and hospitality, publicity and communication as well as transport, protocol and liaison,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
The World Trade Organization has a membership of 162 countries from across the world. Kenya won the bid to host the MC10 in December last year.
At the same time, Amina Mohamed urged the teams engaged on trade negotiations in Geneva to speed up development of a work programme for trade liberalization ahead of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi.
Saying the Nairobi Ministerial meeting is only four months away, the Cabinet Secretary expressed concern that limited progress has been made in the preparation of a detailed work programme on trade opening, also called the Post Bali Work Programme.
The Post-Bali work programme refers to development of a road map for implementation of agreements on opening of global trade that were reached in Bali, Indonesia, during the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference.
The Cabinet Secretary stressed that the work programme must strike the right balance between the core areas of negotiations especially agriculture and services as well as the special needs and interests of the developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Tags: World Trade Organization
Comments: