XN000022-1980-11-13 — Page 3

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1980

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TICD DIRECTOR REPORTS ON BOGOTA MEETING

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MR BILL DORWARD, DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS HAS RETURNED TO HONG KONG FROM BOGOTA, COLOMBIA WHERE HE ATTENDED A FOUR-DAY MEETING OF 22 DEVELOPING TEXTILES EXPORTING COUNTRIES,

+THIS WAS THE FIRST MEETING OF ITS KIND AND WAS CALLED TO TRY TO PREPARE FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE NEXT YEAR TO DECIDE WHAT SYSTEM SHOULD GOVERN WORLD TRADE IN TEXTILES WHEN THE PRESENT MULTI FIBRE ARRANGEMENT THE MFA EXPIRES AT THE END OF 1981, + MR DORWARD SAID ON HIS RETURN.

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WHEN THE PRESENT MFA WAS NEGOTIATED IN 1977 THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WERE NOT WELL ENOUGH ORGANISED. AS A RESULT,

AS A RESULT, THERE IS A WIDESPREAD FEELING, WHICH WAS EVIDENT IN BOGOTA, THAT THE PRESENT SYSTEM HAD WORKED TO THE IR SERIOUS DISADVANTAGE.

+THE PURPOSE OF THE BOGOTA MEETING WAS NOT TO PREPARE FOR

A CONFRONTATION WITH THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, MR DORWARD STRESSED, +BUT RATHER TO REACH A SERIES OF COMMON POSITIONS WHICH WOULD ENABLE THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO NEGOTIATE FROM A POSITION OF MORE STRENGTH THAN THEY WOULD HAVE INDIVIDUALLY.

AT THE END OF THE MEETING THE DELEGATES ISSUED A STATEMENT WHICH POINTED OUT THE SHORTCOMINGS AND DEFECTS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. IT EXPRESSED THEIR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WAY THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES HAD OPERATED THEIR CONTROLS ON TEXTILES IN RECENT YEARS.

THE PARTICIPANTS STRESSED THAT THE BOGOTA MEETING WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF A PROCESS OF CO-ORDINATION WHICH WOULD BE CARRIED ON THROUGH THE 1981 NEGOTIATIONS AND BEYOND.

+ BELIEVE THIS MEETING MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A SIGNIFICANT NEW PHASE IN THE HISTORY OF TEXTILE ARRANGEMENTS. THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, + MR DORWARD SAID.

THE MEETING, WHICH WAS ORGANISED AND HOSTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF COLOMBIA, WAS ATTENDED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM HONG KONG, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR REPUBLIC OF KOREA, THE PHILIPPINES, GUATEMALA

THE PHILIPPINES, GUATEMALA, INDIA, INDONESIA, ISRAEL, MALAYSIA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, ROMANIA, SRI LANKA, THAILAND, URUGUAY AND YUGOSLAVIA.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

COPIES OF THE STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE DELEGATES AT THE END OF THE BOGOTA MEETING WILL BE BOXED AT GIS FOR COLLECTION THIS EVENING.

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