As the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) approaches, Nigeria is looking forward to contributing actively to global dialogue and negotiations.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.
The minister spoke just as Qatar made a U-turn on its decision not to host a business and investment forum proposed by President Bola Tinubu during his visit slated for March 2, to the Arab country.
Recall that a leaked memo on Saturday showed that Qatar declined the proposed investment forum, citing the unavailability of the country’s minister of commerce and industry, Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Also, the embassy of Qatar in Abuja had said there was no agreement between the Arabian country and Nigeria regarding the investment forum.
But in the letter, which was received by the ministry on February 23, and sighted yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar apologised for the rejection of the proposed business visit.
Qatar has confirmed that the business parley would hold during Tinubu’s visit to the country in a memo dated Sunday, February 25, 2024, addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the WTO ministerial conference, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment said Nigeria’s participation at the WTO conference would foster international trade, cooperation, and inclusivity, driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s policy.
According to the statement by her, the MC13 will hold from February 26 to 29 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be attended by ministers and delegations from around the world, to update the WTO’s agreements on trade policy, review the functions of the multilateral trading system (MTS), and define the agenda for the WTO’s future work.
“Our participation at the MC13 paves the way for us to achieve concrete positive outcomes in the WTO agriculture trade reforms negotiations which we believe should be approached from a food security and livelihood perspective.
“We call for the continued review of the trading rules for agriculture with a view to achieving equitable rules that enhance food security, by providing the necessary policy space for augmenting production and productivity and protecting livelihoods in developing countries, along with diversifying and stabilizing the global supply of food products by achieving reductions in inequitable trade distorting subsidies.
“Nigeria seeks a result-oriented MC13 where ongoing reforms within the multilateral trading system will be adapted to avail developing countries the policy space to support sustainable industrialization, economic diversification, and structural transformations, including through enhancing domestic production and value addition.
“We therefore call on Members to prioritize reforms that would simultaneously address the longstanding development issues on the negotiating agenda of the WTO, together with issues of commercial significance that foster inclusive growth, create jobs, and widen the circle of prosperity”, the Minister added.
