Jul 20, 1985
PARLEY ON GSTP SET FOR INDIA JULY 25-26.
NEW DELHI, JULY 17 (IPS) -- Over 60 Third World countries will gather here July 25-26 to discuss the setting up of a global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) among developing countries, it was announced Wednesday.-The meeting of Ministerial representatives will be preceded by a three-day preparatory conference of senior officials from July a spokesman for the Indian Ministry of Commerce said.- Progress made so far in negotiations for the trade preference system will be reviewed, and decisions taken on how to provide fresh impetus to the negotiations.- Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi will inaugurate the meeting, which comes against the backdrop of a vibrant improvement in trade among developing countries.- In the past, meetings had been held to consider and adopt programmes, and not much attention paid to their implementation, the spokesman recalled.- The share of mutual trade in the total trade of developing countries has also risen significantly, from 19.6 percent in 1970 to 29.9 percent in 1982, according to the figures released here Wednesday.- There has also been qualitative changes in the intra trade of developing countries that reflect structural shifts in their economies, the figures show.- Exports of manufactured goods are becoming more important and this accounts for approximately one-third of the intra-trade of developing countries.- A trade preference arrangement like GSTP will considerably enhance the scope for expansion of trade among developing countries, the Indian government spokesman said.- Noting a movement towards intensification of the protectionist trend, the spokesman said some trade restrictions were being applied against developing nations in a discriminatory way.- It was imperative for developing countries to give the highest priority to expansion of trade and economic cooperation among themselves and devise effective instruments for this purpose.-