G. Muramila And F. Kimenyi
25 July 2007
Kigali — The leader of the British Conservative Party has called on the 'rich' Western states to unilaterally lift trade barriers to pave way for development of third world countries.While addressing the Lower Chamber of Parliament yesterday, David Cameron, said that the main reason the poor countries have stayed poor is because they are denied the opportunity to trade with the rich.
"We need action now to open up markets and remove barriers that put poor countries at such an unfair disadvantage.....Forget the endless torturous negotiations about getting something in return....we can afford it, Africa needs it and we will benefit from it," Cameron said to thunderous applause.
He pointed an accusing finger at politicians talking about trade as a long-term prosperity and attacked the existing global trading system saying it is designed to protect the rich instead of helping the poor.
At the same function, the Conservative party, which is the British main opposition party, launched a report of their policy on global poverty.
He said: "I welcome the proposal from our policy group for the European Union and other rich countries to unilaterally drop their trade barriers to the poorer nations by 2013 at the latest."
Cameron said that Rwanda was the best place for the launch because it represents both the tragedy of Africa's past and hope for the future.
He added that at the suggestion of the Policy Group, a new campaign dubbed 'Real Trade' will be unveiled to put pressure on politicians in developed countries to right away drop trade barriers unilaterally.
Cameron, who has been in the country since Monday also called for donor states to change their approach to aid.
He also criticized the practice by most donors of imposing conditionalities before granting aid to the needy countries.
"Conditionality too often meant donors attaching self-interested demands to aid," he said. "The kind of top-down 'we know best' approach must end."
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