The World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Dialogues event held on 30 May 2016 gave business leaders an opportunity to discuss the challenges they face and the role of the WTO in helping to overcome the problems.

The business representatives noted that the issues surrounding the Doha agenda are still important. They urged the WTO to take action on trade finance and form a plan to fill gaps in export financing. Ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the provision of capacity building assistance for its implementation were also seen as important. The leaders saw a need to address non-tariff barriers to trade as these can be a problem for small enterprises in particular.

Electronic commerce

The business leaders requested the WTO to work on enhancing transparency and nondiscrimination in e-commerce, simplifying regulations and facilitating the inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in e-commerce. The WTO could cooperate closely with other international organizations and discuss the establishment of global rules on e-commerce and cross-border data flows.

Investment facilitation

The WTO could develop an investment facilitation framework to improve transparency and information sharing and simplify administration procedures for national investment regimes. An integrated WTO portal could set out the trade and investment policies and regulations of member states. Clear principles could be developed for policy-making in relation to investment; and investment protection could be protected by a standard model for investment disputes.

Trading conditions for MSMEs

Conditions for MSMEs should be given more priority in WTO discussions and work could be done on improving the regulatory environment for MSMEs, for example by digitalizing government processes, improving access to public procurement and reducing compliance costs. The WTO could work on developing capacity building to facilitate the inclusion of MSMEs into global value chains. Better trade financing for MSMEs is also an issue that could be considered.

A further point made by the business leaders was that the WTO should engage more actively with the business community to explain its work.