Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at High-level segment of UNCTAD XII in Accra, Ghana, 21 April 2008

"Trade and Development for Africa's Prosperity: action and direction" (check against delivery)

In a globalizing world, the importance of trade for development, growth and employment has become more and more evident. It is our obligation and in our mutual interest to advance the positive impacts of trade and investment for the development of Africa. It is clear that increased and diversified trade flows should and will increase the prosperity of a nation as I have witnessed in my own country, Finland. Without trade and investment flows, it will be very difficult to create a sound and sustainable economy paving the way for a welfare state where all citizens have fair opportunities to live their lives.

Africa should have a fair opportunity to participate in and benefit from domestic, regional and international trade. African countries need support in strengthening their societal, economic and trade capacity. This concerns both the North-South commercial links, but perhaps more importantly the growing intra-African trade. Further support is needed in order to create an integrated business environment in Africa. This should focus on meeting needs concerning infrastructure, institutional capacity, as well as promoting sound business environment and good governance.

Good governance is a wide concept requiring comprehensive action in several areas: political, economic, social and environmental. It is based on commonly agreed principles that apply to the main functions of government and to the interaction between public institutions and citizens. Processes of democratic governance cannot be imposed from the outside. Every story is different and every country has its own right - and duty - to decide on and implement its own reforms – but we can learns from each others’ experience too.

Mo Ibrahim of Sudan remained us yesterday again that in corruption there is always two partners, the giver and the taker. Corruption is not an African invention, but a global phenomenon. It was encouraging to listen to Mo Ibrahim as he telling about his companies’ business success without paying bribes. I believe that we all have a lot learn from Mr. Ibrahim’s experience and wisdom.

Good governance is an essential part of a sound trading environment. Africa displays clear signs of positive change in this area and we hope that this trend will gain further momentum in the near future. UNCTAD is welcome to do more in supporting African countries to develop their business environment through principles of good governance and rule of law. Here we should not forget women. Women are at least half of the human resources and essential part of development. Gender equality and human rights are essential aspects of good governance.

The developed countries have an important role to play in supporting African economies to integrate at the global level. Appropriate development assistance is needed and especially there is a need to facilitate imports from Africa. We need to remove obstacles for market access of African goods.

The aim is to move towards greater volume and more diversified commercial contacts, shifting away from excessive reliance on a few basic commodities, which has been typical for African trade. This would give African economies a possibility to participate in emerging global economic production networks and structures.

Here I would like to mention one very important issue: employment. Trade and investment should promote employment and decent work. This does not happen automatically, but requires conscious policies and action by governments. These issues were emphasised strongly by the World Commission on Social Dimension of Globalization, which I had an honour to co-chair with Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania.

Trade needs also physical infrastructure. It is important that development of infrastructure, such as ports, roads, railways, and communication networks, advances Africa’s integration into the world trading system as well as regional integration. Developed countries can play an important role in this respect.

I am happy to say that Finland, like the whole EU, has in the past years further strengthened our partnership with Africa. The cooperation between Europe and Africa has developed and diversified. The second EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon was very important event and we could be satisfied with the results of the Summit. A new EU-Africa Joint Strategy makes it possible to further deepen the relations between two continents. Here it is good to remind that European Union is today much bigger than it used to be. Historical ties are important and can be used to benefit of all parties, but in today’s Europe most countries are quite new partners to Africa.

Specifically I have to recognise the promising results we have achieved together with our partners from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in the negotiations leading to the Economic Partnership Agreements. Statistics clearly tell us that the generous market access that has prevailed for years has not led to increased trade. In the new agreements we are building an innovative type of partnership both to improve market access for the African exporters and to strengthen the competitiveness of the African economies. These new EPA agreements are one way of turning our political commitments in to reality. This is the way to achieve tangible benefits to Africa.

Access to information and especially application of knowledge and innovation have become key factors in competitiveness, growth, and creation of wealth. Governments need to adjust their development strategies in order to emphasize education, innovation and information and communications technology. These new technologies are important instruments for increasing productivity, competitiveness, creation of public services and sustainable development. Concentrating on this instrument will give an excellent platform for commercial relations to flourish.

By the way, my own country Finland has succeeded very well on the basis of developing human resources. Education, education, education could well be a slogan for Finland. Our education system is based on the principle of providing equal learning opportunities for everyone, regardless of where they live or their gender, financial standing or cultural background. Education in Finland is a public service provided free of charge from primary schools to universities. And Finnish secondary education has been ranked the best among the OECD countries in two consecutive comparisons. Also lifelong learning has been given special importance in our country.



Our aim here today is to enhance Africa's prosperity. This prosperity needs to be built on solid basis and it must be based on sustainable use of natural resources and protecting the environment. Our ultimate objective is the eradication of poverty. This requires that we aim at development that is ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. We confirm our continuous support for Millennium Development Goals which is a prerequisite for peace and security of this continent. We also believe that strengthening of multilateral system is the way to this development. What we have heard here today has reassured us that UNCTAD should continue to focus its work even more in favor of Africa.