UNCTAD: Morocco designated Chair of GSTP, recognition of the Kingdom’s commitment to multilateralism

Moroccan ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva, Omar Zniber, has been named Chair of the Committee of Participants of the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP), in recognition of the key role played by the Kingdom in South-South cooperation and efforts engaged for a fair international trading system.

The Committee of Participants of GSTP is the highest decision-making body for the GSTP, an agreement that promotes trade between developing countries through preferential tariff reductions. Administered by UNCTAD, this committee oversees the implementation of the agreement, ensures the dissemination of trade information, and sponsors negotiations to expand trade among its 42 member countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Secretary General of UNCTAD Rebeca Grynspan has praised Morocco’s commitment to multilateralism and its leadership in promoting South-South cooperation. She also lauded the Kingdom’s commitment to the GSTP and key role in strengthening cooperation between developing countries as shown by the Kingdom’s chairmanship of this Committee from 1997 to 2002.

Negotiated within UNCTAD’s framework, the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) among developing countries, signed on 13 April 1988, aims at increasing South-South trade primarily through preferential tariff reductions.

This agreement currently encompasses 42 member countries – seven of them least developed countries – and the Southern Common Market, known as Mercosur.

GSTP economies in 2021 represented a market of more than $16 trillion and generated some $4.4 trillion in import demand for goods – almost 20% of global merchandise imports.