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OPENING STATEMENT BY
MR. KIM HAK-SU
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
AND THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Distinguished delegates,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the twenty-second session of the Standing Committee of the Bangkok Agreement.

In October 2001, at the seventeenth session of the Standing Committee of the Bangkok Agreement, a process to revitalize the Agreement was launched. Over the past two and a half years, much effort has been expended by Participating States and by the secretariat to make the revitalization efforts yield concrete and lasting results. I am pleased to say today that these efforts are beginning to bring about the results that all parties were working towards.

I am pleased to learn that the third round of negotiations under the Bangkok Agreement, one of the pillars of the revitalization process, has now been completed. Multilateralization of concessions agreed through bilateral negotiations is expected to take place at this session.  This is, without a doubt, a most important step forward for the Agreement, one which, I am sure, will contribute to allowing the Agreement to eventually take its rightful place as a major preferential trade agreement in the region.

During the present session, the Committee will discuss the issue of common rules of origin under the Agreement. I am aware that this discussion has been continuing for some time, but it is the hope of the secretariat that the common rules of origin will be finalized at the present session. This hope is based on the observation that all Participating States have, in principle, agreed on the same percentage criteria for developing member countries and least developed member countries. I would invite the Committee to base its discussion during the present session on this positive development, and to therefore finalize the common rules of origin at this session.

Once the common rules of origin have been finalized, the amended text in its entirety will have been completed, and the second pillar of the revitalization process will have been put in place.  This will allow Participating States to move forward to the third, and perhaps most significant, building block of the revitalization process, namely the Ministerial Council.

It is my belief that the Bangkok Agreement will only be able to fully deliver on its potential if support is provided from the highest trade policy decision-making level. Holding the first session of  the Ministerial Council  as soon as possible  will therefore be necessary to maintain the current momentum within the Agreement and in this regard I wish to sincerely appreciate the offer of the Government of China to hold the inaugural session.  I would invite Participating States to use this session of the Standing Committee to finalize the structure and agenda for the first session of the Ministerial Council, as well as the Ministerial Declaration, and to decide on a date to hold this session in 2004.

On the subject of expansion of membership, I am pleased to report to you that in March 2004, the secretariat organized a seminar on implications of Bangkok Agreement membership for prospective member countries, attended by representatives from seven countries in the region.  Strong interest in membership was demonstrated by some of the countries in attendance. I should point out that much of this interest was in the context of the revitalization efforts and the long-term vision for the Agreement, which once again brings to the fore the importance of completing the elements in the revitalization process as soon as possible.

Distinguished delegates,

I will honestly say that I have some regret that the first session of the Ministerial Council of the Bangkok Agreement was not held in Shanghai, China, back to back with the highly successful sixtieth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, as had been planned.

That being said, the timing for holding the inaugural session must be right. I sense now that with the completion of the third round of negotiations and progress achieved in the rules of origin, the momentum within the Agreement is strong, and we must take hold of this opportunity to deliver on the promise of the revitalization efforts.

Let us therefore use the present session of the Committee to complete the necessary background work to ensure that the first session of the Ministerial Council can take place in 2004. We are all aware of the potential of the Bangkok Agreement, and I sincerely believe that this is the time for the Agreement to take those final steps. Let us seize this opportunity while it is still available.   

I thank you for your attention, and wish you all success in your deliberations.