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WTO And Agriculture By Gandhi Raj Kafle COMMITMENTS, to get entry into the WTO, the world trade organisation, are now
being made in Nepal. The Ministry of Commerce, the concerned authority to prepare for it,
is now said to be working speedily in this regard. The trade circles in Nepal like the
government itself, are also engaged to discuss possible advantages and disadvantages of
the WTO provisions, which will be automatically binding for trading activities once the
nation formally enters into it. Liberalisation But, the policy alone is not enough. It’s the sincere work that raise
efficiency, competitiveness and enterpreneurship in production functions to match the goal
in the long run, especially to expand and benefit from trading activities as envisaged by
the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Though this competitiveness is a long awaited economic
dream in Nepal, the relative progress made in practice in many sphere of economic
development is still slow. So, the prime concern despite having tremendous economic resources to
mobilise for us today is the slow growth. Then, should we opt to remain out of the WTO
till we gain necessary momentum of economic development before entering into it? Isolation is certainly no solution to the economic problems of a country.
This, like many developing nations in the world, will be applicable to Nepal also. May be
realising the bitter fact, the country is all set to make necessary preparations for an
early entry into the World Trade Organisation as a member. Yet, what can be said without
any hesitation is that getting a membership of the WTO in itself is neither a matter of
joy nor sorrow. The country must make fast economic progress in the region. It makes sense
paving way for many economic benefits increasingly and intensively, as a member country of
the world bodies like the WTO itself. In this vein, with the growing global economic
challenges ahead in an uncomfortable situation of income disparity and widening gap
between haves-and-have-nots; Nepal seems to be in critical economic condition. And, to
remember the bitter truth for us, the WTO benefits will have no automatic impact for
ameliorating the trade difficulty of a member country. It’s a sole responsibility of
an individual nation to create positive impact with national and international cooperation
for the WTO benefits. Can Nepal make some tangible progress for it? Fast industrial development with utmost care in product specialisation to
expand market of few chosen and viable commodities for the country to internationalise
trade can help us achieve some market benefits in near future. But, the WTO provisions are the common framework, they have no discriminatory
treatment to provide special favour to the nations industrially advanced or industrially
backward or, for that matter, there is no any special privileges to any products for
global trade. The WTO, it seems, sticks to the principles of equality. So understandingly, the WTO provisions are binding to all nations and all
products. In this economic background, the Third World trade will have a tough time ahead.
There may be cut-throat competition in the international trade in which small economies
may suffer once again. So, signing a deal to get an entry into the WTO for Nepal will
surely add a new economic challenge in the near future. Therefore, for Nepal, which is preparing in full swing for the entry to the
new world trade body, it’s the right moment to weigh all pros and cons. However
notably, echoing the same spirit for preparations, academic exercises through workshop
discussions at various levels have been carried out enthusiastically. It’s good
because since the establishment of WTO in 1995, the trade option institutionalised in it
cannot be ignored. But, the difficulty for us today is that our economic condition cannot
ensure due benefit from the mainstream world trade. Infrastructurally weak, industrially
vulnerable and commercially fragile economy of the country are the main reasons behind
this uncertainty. Very shortly, through the open and liberal economic policy, the country
must be able to cope with the problems that have jeopardised the hope for growth target
— if we really want to be benefitted from the mainstream world trade. And, while doing so for strategic advantage in line with the WTO, our
national and international focus must be on the agriculture, which until now is the
dominant production sector. In this vein a relevant question to ponder over can be: what
will happen in our agriculture output if all trade barriers to streamline the Nepalese
economy towards the goal envisaged by the World Trade Organisation are removed? If we
become more competitive, quality conscience and scientific for agriculture farming, the
WTO benefits may be with us once we get membership of it. But, competition and economies
of scale are not a sudden phenomena; a world economic body can be emerged dramatically,
but, a backward economy of a nation cannot be corrected suddenly. Protective Other Stories |
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