Luanda - The country is preparing to be submitted to the third Trade Policy Review in 2023, by the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Monday in Luanda the secretary of State for Trade, Amadeu Nunes.
Speaking at the opening of a seminar on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (MEPC), he pointed to the strengthening of institutional capacity as an imperative, given the challenges that the country is facing with the integration process.
Amadeu Nunes believes that the focus on building the capacity of national cadres, in the most different subjects related to trade, is a catalyst to respond to the needs and for the transparent management of policies with an impact on trade.
The official highlighted that one of the main principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is transparency which ends with the preparation of a trade policy review on its members, as well as the collection and subsequent submission of notifications of the diplomas that are applied by the Member States.
He stressed that, at present, international, regional and multilateral organizations try to apply the principle of transparency so that countries have a good exchange in trade.
According to the official, the holding of the seminar will enable to improve the preparation of the 3rd Trade Policy Review (TPR), the creation of bidding strategies through organizations such as SADC Free Trade Zone in order to support the private sector in their integration and take advantage of regional trade agreements.
At the time, the representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Angola, Edo Stork, considered to have a very important collaboration with the Angolan Government in the integrated strengthening framework.
He said that UNDP and the Government are working together as a team to achieve greater diversification of the Angolan economy.
Edo Stork defended the importance to prioritise agribusiness, without ignoring issues related to sustainable growth and pointed out that UNDP is currently working with the Government on the Programme for Reconversion of the Informal Economy, whose data is encouraging.
Angola is a member of SADC, a signatory to the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and the World Trade Organization.
The seminar on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (MEPC), promoted by the ministry of Industry and Trade in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), takes place from 14 to 25 November of the current year.
It aims to train the participants in the preparation of governmental reports in order to make the professional understand MEPC´s importance in the context of the WTO transparency, issues linked to the multilateral trade system based in rules and its impact in national and regional trade policies of the member countries.
During the training days, they will assess different topics such as the SADC Free Trade Zone Agreement - Main Previsions, Opportunities and Challenges for Angola, Multilateral, Regional and Continental Trade Defence Instruments, Notification and Transparency Requirements in International Trade Agreements, among others.
The participants of the Seminar are employees of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as well as other specialized public officials who are involved in the trade policy.
