A.  Meeting of the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries of 26 June 1997

Following consultations held among States members of UNCTAD, agreement was reached at a meeting of the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries on 26 June 1997 on a number of points relating to preparations for the High-Level MeetingSee footnote 1:

-  the agenda and format for the High-Level Meeting (see attachment);

-  there will be no set plenary speeches;

-  the criteria to be used for choosing the least-developed countries which will be featured in the country-specific round-tables at the High-Level Meeting, with the commitment of all the intergovernmental organizations involved that any least-developed country that wished subsequently to have a round-table and which has successfully completed the needs-assessment will be accommodated immediately;

-  six eminent business persons will be invited to participate in their personal capacity in the country-specific and thematic roundtables at the High-Level Meeting;

-  the participation of all members of all of the intergovernmental organizations involved;

-  observer status for the intergovernmental organizations accredited to WTO and UNCTAD.

-  the use of the WTO's "Singapore formula" for selecting and inviting NGOs to attend the High-Level Meeting in a non-speaking capacity, and the organisation of an NGO-symposium some weeks prior to the High-Level Meeting. There was agreement on the importance of NGO-representatives from least-developed countries attending the symposium and the High-Level Meeting.

Informal consultations are continuing on two substantive issues: the elaboration of specific themes for the thematic round-tables, and the text of the Integrated Framework for Technical Assistance which the High-Level Meeting will be invited to endorse.

B.  Procedural Issues

Subsequent to the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries on 26 June, the Director-General, Mr. Ruggiero, and UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mr. Ricupero, noting that neither of them had the authority to change the rules of procedure of their respective organizations, agreed on the need to establish rules of procedure for the High-Level Meeting that are acceptable from the point of view of both organizations. They discussed among others a formula whereby the rules of procedure of either organisation should be added to as necessary, to accommodate for example extending invitations to participate in the High-Level Meeting to all members and observers of UNCTAD that are not Members or observers of the WTO. This approach was discussed and endorsed in informal consultations conducted by the Chairman of the WTO General Council at a meeting on 11 July 1997.

Informal consultations will be held on the selection of the chairperson of the High-Level Meeting, and of chairs and rapporteurs for the thematic roundtables. Each least-developed country selected to be the subject of a country-specific roundtable will be invited to nominate the chair of its roundtable.

C. Status of Preparations by Individual Least-Developed Countries of their Needs Assessment

As noted in Attachment 3 to document WT/COMTD/W/28, the Director-General, Mr. Ruggiero, wrote on 7 May to the Trade Ministers of all 48 least-developed countries inviting them to prepare a comprehensive assessment of their needs for trade-related technical cooperation, to serve as the basis upon which the six intergovernmental agencies involved most directly in the High-Level Meeting will respond with an integrated package of technical assistance. To ensure that the needs are prioritized, the checklist which serves as the basis for the needs assessment explicitly requests the countries to rank their technical assistance needs in terms of priority. As noted in Mr. Ruggiero's letter, considerable importance is attached to each least-developed country taking full responsibility for carrying out its own needs assessment, to ensure that the process is properly demand-driven; however, provision has been made for assistance to be given, by or through the inter-governmental organizations involved most directly in the High-Level Meeting, to any least-developed country which requests it in order to complete its own needs assessment.

Requests of this nature are normally addressed to WTO which immediately informs the other five organizations. When requesting assistance, least-developed countries have been asked to indicate whether they have a preference that assistance is provided by any one particular inter-governmental agency. An inter-agency process has been established to deal with requests for assistance on a case-by-case basis and to ensure that the process is properly coordinated. Where possible, assistance will be provided within the context of a technical assistance or other mission that the agencies involved have already planned to the country concerned, so as to make best use of available resources. Use is also being made, where possible, of resident missions of UNDP, the World Bank and the IMF. Least-developed countries engaged in completing their needs assessment have been requested to provide the intergovernmental agencies with the name of the responsible government office and officials involved.

As of 23 July, twenty least-developed countries had indicated that they are in the process of preparing their needs assessment. Fifteen had requested assistance from one or other of the agencies involved: Bangladesh, Benin, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Madagascar, Mauritania, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. Ethiopia and Zambia had submitted draft needs assessments, which are currently being reviewed by the six agencies to decide on the appropriate follow-up. Nepal, Mozambique and Tanzania had indicated that they are in the process of preparing their needs assessment; Tanzania has indicated that it may request assistance at a later stage.

Following inter-agency consultations, and in the light of specific requests from individual least-developed countries, it has been agreed that UNCTAD and the ITC will follow up requests for assistance from Bangladesh, Gambia, Uganda and the Sudan. ITC will follow-up on the request for assistance from Guinea. WTO and ITC have already completed a mission to Madagascar and are also responsible for meeting requests from Djibouti and Haiti. The World Bank will provide assistance to Benin, Cape Verde, Chad, the Comoros and Mauritania. A decision on the requests from Togo and the Central African Republic, which were received only recently, will be taken shortly following inter-agency consultations.

D.  Market Access

The Director-General, Mr. Ruggiero, has written to all WTO Trade Ministers to seek their support in securing concrete results at the High-Level Meeting on improving market access for products of particular export interest to the least-developed countries.

E.  Participation of the Private Sector

The private sector will be able to attend the High-Level Meeting on the same basis as NGOs, that is to say as observers at formal sessions in a non-speaking capacity.

In addition, with a view to having the private sector's vision and perspectives appropriately reflected in the deliberations and conclusions of the Meeting, the Director General, upon recommendation of the International Trade Centre and the International Finance Corporation, has invited a small number of eminent business leaders and investors from developing and industrialized countries as resource persons to participate in the Meeting in their personal capacity and to contribute their practical experience, insights and ideas.

Furthermore, the International Trade Centre is conducting a survey of the major bottlenecks to international trade in the 48 LDCs as seen by their exporters. The results of this survey will be used by ITC as the basis for its background paper for the Meeting, entitled "A business perspective on principal bottlenecks to international business development and related technical cooperation needs in LDCs".

F.  NGO's

The Secretariat, in conjunction with UNCTAD, is organizing a symposium for NGO's prior to the High-Level Meeting on 25-26 September. Invitations will be sent to the following NGOs:

Development Workshop (Angola); UBINIG (Bangladesh); Association pour la Sauvegarde de l'Environnement et le Développement (Benin); Promotion Développement Industriel Artisanal Agricole (Burkina Faso); Centre de Documentation, d'Information de la Formation pour le Développement (Central African Republic); Les Amis de la Terre (Djibouti); Association de Coopération et de Recherche pour le Développement (Chad); National Organization of Development NGOs (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Réseau Africain pour le Développement (Ethiopia); Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (Gambia); Third World Network (Ghana); TINIGUENA (Guinea Bissau); Haitian Association of Voluntary Agencies (Haiti); Kenya Energy and Environmental Organization (Kenya); Madagascar Association for the Promotion of Enterprise (Madagascar); Council for NGOs in Malawi (Malawi); Third World Network (Malaysia); Comit?de Coordination des Actions des ONG (Mali); World Vision Mauritania (Mauritania); Mozambican Association for Urban Development (Mozambique); SEWA (Nepal); Forum of African Voluntary Development Organizations (Senegal); Tanzanian Association of NGOs (Tanzania); Fédération des ONG du Togo (Togo); Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (Uganda); EUROSTEP (Belgium); ICDA/CENNT Network (Denmark); SOLAGRAL (France), International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Swiss Coalition of Development Organizations (Switzerland); OXFAM and CHRISTIAN AID (United Kingdom); Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (United States).

G.  Documentation

Drafts of the following background documents that are being prepared for the High-Level Meeting were circulated prior to the Sub-Committee's meeting on 26 June 1997:

-  The integrated framework for technical assistance including for human and institutional capacity-building to support LDCs in trade and trade-related activities (LDC/HL/2);

-  Review of market access opportunities for LDCs in their main export markets, and of the trade barriers they continue to face (LDC/HL/3); a sample for one such main export market was circulated by way of example of what the document will look like.

-  The context in which the High-Level Meeting is taking place (LDC/HL/4);

-  Inventory of trade-related technical cooperation activities conducted with the least- developed countries by the six intergovernmental organizations involved in the preparation of the High-Level Meeting (LDC/HL/9); a sample for Tanzania was distributed by way of example of what the document will look like.

-  The role of information technology in enhancing trade opportunities for LDCs and ways to facilitate its use by LDCs (LDC/HL/11).

Other background documents being prepared by one or other of the secretariats of the various agencies involved, or jointly, are:

-  Review of the international and domestic economic policy context within which LDCs are operating (LDC/HL/5);

-  A business perspective on principal bottlenecks to international business development and related technical cooperation needs in LDCs (LDC/HL/6);

-  A sustainable business strategy in LDCs (LDC/HL/7);

-  The role of investment in LDCs (LDC/HL/8);

-  Information from other intergovernmental organizations on their trade-related technical cooperation activities in LDCs (LDC/HL/10).

With regard to the last draft document listed above, invitations have been sent to the following intergovernmental organisations to provide information on their trade-related technical assistance activities with least-developed countries: African Development Bank, Agence de Francophonie, Asian Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, FAO, Islamic Development Bank, OECD, UNECA, UNESCAP, UNIDO, World Customs Organisation and WIPO.

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Attachment 1

High-level meeting on integrated initiaitves for Least-develped Countries trade development

Proposed Agenda and Format

NB: In view of the relatively short duration of the meeting, and the importance attached to securing from it concrete results in several areas, no time has been allocated for plenary speeches. When making their interventions on specific agenda items or in roundtable discussions, government delegations will be invited to keep their statements short and to the point in order to allow business to be concluded expeditiously.

Monday, 27 october

Session I (9 a.m. - 1 p.m.)

Session II (3 p.m. - 6 p.m.)

Agenda Items 1, 2 and 3

Opening of the Meeting; Election of Officers; Adoption of the Agenda and Organization of Work

Agenda Item 4(a)

Initiatives to improve market access for least-developed countries and to diversify their export production. Under this agenda item, an opportunity would be provided for WTO Members, on an autonomous basis, to enhance their market access for imports from least-developed countries.

Parallel Sessions

Tuesday, 28 october

Session III (9 a.m. - 1 p.m.)

Session IV (3 p.m. - 6 p.m.)

Parallel Sessions

Agenda Item 4(b)

  Results of the country-specific roundtables

  An Integrated Framework for Technical Assistance, Including for Human and Institutional Capacity-Building, to Support Least-Developed Countries in Their Trade and Trade-Related Activities, for Conducting Programmes with Individual Least-Developed Countries within that Framework, and for the Monitoring and Evaluation of those Programmes

  Action envisaged: Endorsement by the Meeting of the Integrated Framework for Technical Assistance

Agenda Item 5

  Results of the thematic roundtables

  Action envisaged: Adoption of the Report of the Meeting

Agenda Item 6

  Other Business

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Attachment 2

Leading products exported by least developed countries: 1995 data

Footnote: 1The report on the meeting is contained in WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/7 and Corr.1.