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PRESS
RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/234
14 July 2004
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SURINAME
Expanded WTO commitments could foster trade and investment
Since the mid-1990s, Suriname has gradually reformed various trade instruments, resulting in an increasingly open and transparent trade regime, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Suriname released July 14 by the WTO Secretariat. These reforms have been carried out both autonomously and through Suriname抯 participation in the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), and are taking place against the backdrop of a broader process of modernization of Suriname抯 legal and institutional framework.
So far, however, trade and investment have been stagnant. To reverse this situation, the report says that Suriname needs to step up its efforts to make macroeconomic management more coherent, rationalize state participation in the economy, and introduce structural changes leading to a more entrepreneurial culture and greater market competition. Anchoring past and future reforms through expanded multilateral commitments could greatly enhance their effectiveness, thus ensuring that trade and investment take off definitely.
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Suriname, will be the basis for the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Suriname by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 12 and 14 July 2004, which will take place at the same time as the review of Belize.
The following documents are available in MS Word format.
- Secretariat report
> Contents and summary observations (14 pages, 176KB)
> Economic environment (13 pages, 423KB)
> Trade policy regime: framework and objectives (16 pages, 186KB)
> Trade policies and practices by measure (26 pages, 317KB)
> Trade policies by sector (40 pages, 639KB)
- Government report (12 pages,
95KB)
- Chairperson's concluding remarks
- Minutes
of the meeting are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.
Note back to top
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries?trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO抯 full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB抯 meetings are published shortly afterwards.
Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Gen鑦e 21 and through the on-line bookshop.
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.
Schedule of forthcoming reviews back to top
Republic of Korea: 15 and 17
September 2004
Rwanda: 28 and 30 September 2004