The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Caribbean Development Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Oct. 25 to strengthen the bond between the two organizations.
“The MOU aims to deliver specific things for the benefit of countries in the region, virtually all of whom are members of the WTO,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a news release. “So, for instance, as part of a food security package how can we work together to make sure that the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is implemented? How do we collaborate on capacity building on fisheries management, how do we get countries to deposit their instruments of acceptance [for the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement] as quickly as possible and how do we work together on gender and trade, including collaboration with ITC?”
CDB President Dr. Gene Leon said building and strengthening the bonds between the two institutions is important.
The goal of the MOU is to help WTO members benefit from international trade and for both organizations to collaborate on trade-related technical assistance and build trade within both Caribbean and non-Caribbean countries, the news release said.
Issues the two organizations agreed to cooperate on include WTO members implementing the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, assisting the implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, collaborating on issues such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade, which are critical to small businesses. They will also explore how trade policy can help address climate change and women’s participation in international trade.
It was signed by Okonjo-Iweala and Leon, the news release said.