NEWS RELEASE 77/33
Commonwealth Information
P/A
25
9 May, 1977
COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT Marlborough House London SW1Y 5HX
01-839 3411
MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT
Textile seminar in Hong Kong
World-wide trade in textiles and fabrics, particu- larly from developing countries, is organised under the Multi-Fibre Arrangement. The Agreement is due for renegotiation by the end of 1977.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is organising a seminar in Hong Kong, from 9 - 13 May 1977, to increase the effectiveness of the participation of Commonwealth developing countries in the MFA negotiations now proceeding under the aegis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The semin- ar will help improve participants' understanding of the issues, and provide a forum for exchange of views among them.
The seminar is organised under the Secretariat's Export Market Development Programme, and financed by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation. It is held in co-operation with the Government of Hong Kong, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the GATT.
Commonwealth member countries participating are: Bangladesh, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago. Three non-Commonwealth developing countries will participate at their own expense the Philipp- ines, the Republic of Korea and Thailand.
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The seminar will review the present state of inter- . national textile trade from the point of view of the developing nations, and review recent discuss- ions on the Multi-Fibre Arrangement. It will also consider ways in which textile products may be dealt with in the current Multilateral Trade Negotiations, and discuss the future prospects and long-term interests of developing countries that export textiles.
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