Paraguay's WTO Trade Policy Review: UK Statement, November 2024
Trade Policy Review of Paraguay, as delivered by the UK at the World Trade Organization.
Chair, let me offer a warm welcome and thanks for their work to the delegation from Paraguay, led by Vice Minister for Economic Relations and Integration, Patricia Frutos Ruíz; Permanent Representative Ambassador Raúl Cano Ricciardi and all the Paraguayan Mission team; you, to the WTO Secretariat for their report, to you Chair, and to our Discussant, Ambassador Erwin Bollinger of Switzerland for his insightful comments.
Bilateral Trade
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I am pleased to speak on the behalf of the UK for the Trade Policy Review Paraguay, sometimes described as the “Corazón de Sudamérica” (“Heart of South America”). The UK is pleased to have long-standing links with Paraguay, formalised as early as 1853 with the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Commerce and Navigation.
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More recently, these links have gone from strength to strength since the re-opening of our Embassy in Asuncion in 2013. Since then, our bilateral trade has increased by around 40%. We trade solely on WTO terms. The UK’s exports include sectors like automotive, beverages and organic chemicals and also newer technologies, for example in 2023 what we believe was the first surgical robot in Paraguay, manufactured by Cambridge Medical Robotics (CMR).
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On the wider economic context, the UK also congratulates Paraguay on achieving an upgraded sovereign credit rating in July. This recognises Paraguay’s robust economic growth and successful reforms.
Trade Policy Review (TPR) Analysis
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The UK is also pleased to see Paraguay’s growth and reforms reflected in the Trade Policy Review reports, and commends Paraguay’s strong recovery from challenges such as the global pandemic, fluctuating commodity prices, and drought in 2022. The reports also highlight real strengths with Paraguay’s economy, including increased public investment, strong export growth (37% in 2023) and a reduction in monetary poverty.
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The UK welcomes this, and how trade is increasingly important to the Paraguay economy as a net exporter of goods, and with its external trade worth some 83% of GDP in 2023 – especially driven by strong agriculture, and world leading hydroelectric power exports.
Power Exports (and the current drought)
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The UK also acknowledges impressive progress but also current challenges in Paraguay’s clean energy production. Paraguay is one of the few countries in the world whose entire electricity grid is green.
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Power exports are its number one export, especially thanks to the Itaipu Dam, shared with Brazil, which is the second largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. However we acknowledge with concern how Paraguay is suffering the effects of most severe drought, and how reduced water flows affect not just the Itaipú Dam’s power generation, but also the navigability of the Paraná and Paraguay on which many exports depend, including agricultural produce, which feeds nearly a hundred million people, over ten times Paraguay’s population.
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With these challenges in mind, we also commend Paraguay’s proactive contribution to consideration of environmental and sustainability issues here at the WTO.
WTO and Multilateral Institutions
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Chair, we welcome Paraguay’s continued commitment to open global trade, as well as its strong participation across a wide range of WTO initiatives. We hugely value Paraguay’s drive and ambition when it comes to improving the functioning of the WTO. The UK and Paraguay collaborate closely, through committees and several joint proposals, to realise a shared vision of an inclusive WTO better able to take decisions and navigate both challenges of today, and opportunities of tomorrow.
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We also welcome Paraguay’s expertise and active role on specific WTO topics such as agriculture. We welcome their drive to move agriculture negotiations forward as an active member of the Cairns Group and Mercosur, particular on market access and domestic support reductions. We are pleased the Paraguayan delegation actively tries to find ways to bridge other Members’ positions. We look forward to to continue working constructively with them towards an agriculture outcome at MC14.
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Paraguay’s participation in the different Joint Initiatives is welcome. The UK is pleased that Paraguay has now joined the countries supporting the Agreement on E-Commerce. Their earlier work to drive the Agreement forward, including chairing small groups during negotiations, was also much appreciated by the UK.
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We also recognise Paraguay’s situation as a Land-Locked Developing Country (LLDC), and welcome Paraguay’s contribution to last week’s WTO focussed session on LLDCs, including on the particular challenges for LLDCs building digital infrastructure . We hope that the Agreement on Electronic Commerce, including the updated provisions on telecommunications, as well as the development provisions, will go some way to addressing these challenges, as would other WTO tools under discussion, including on Investment Facilitation for Development.
Business Environment (and Gender)
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There are plenty of other positive policies we’ve seen from Paraguay that enhance the environment for business, particularly around Paraguay’s efforts to advance trade and gender equality. This includes initiatives such as the Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme, and the ‘Digitalization for developing SMEs run by women’ project which exemplify their focus on enhancing women’s participation in the business sector and increasing women entrepreneurs’ financial support and digital literacy.
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On trade and gender, I should add that as well as his support for the other points in this statement, as a co-chair of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, were he here, the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative Simon Manley (who sends his apologies as travelling back today from official duties in the UK) would particularly have thanked Paraguay for this work and wider commitment to women’s empowerment, and also encouraged their contribution and sharing experiences with that Working Group.
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Finally, also on behalf of Ambassador Manley, I would like to acknowledge that Paraguay’s wider role here in Geneva has included being a stalwart partner in the Human Rights Council throughout their three-year term, which ends soon.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Chair, I would once again congratulate and thank the Paraguayan delegation and Mission, for all their work on this Review.