*{Post Seattle: Making the Mercosur Voice Heard [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Post%20Seattle%3A%20Making%20the%20Mercosur%20Voice%20Heard?open&topic_id=300350000&theme_id=300]

            09.05.2000

            Mercosur Economic Summit 2000}

            Opening the session on the WTO and Mercosur's trade links, moderator Stephen Kanitz, President of Kanitz & Asociados in Brazil, asked whether Mercosur countries should re-orient efforts to establish trade links in the wake of the failure of WTO talks in Seattle last year. Experts from Europe, Africa, and the Americas agreed that in order to increase access to markets, Mercosur should be ready to negotiate a diverse set of trading partnerships, establishing links with various trading blocs. Kanitz took the argument a step further, proposing that Mercosur countries, and developing countries in general, should begin work now to strengthen south-south trading partnerships.

            As the WTO absorbs the lessons of Seattle, negotiations for other regional trade links go forward. Special Envoy for the Americas Kenneth MacKay agreed that access to new markets is particularly important in the current globalized context. "Trade is the key to the future of any nation," he said. MacKay contrasted the failed WTO meetings with FTAA (Free Trade of the Americas Agreement) negotiations that took place in Toronto just three weeks before the riots broke out on Seattle's streets, stating that real progress had been made. MacKay also reiterated the US government's pledge to have the FTAA in place by the year 2005, noting that presidents in several of the key countries involved, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and the United States, are committed to speeding this agreement through.

            Relations between Mercosur countries and the European Union also continue to evolve. Osvaldo de Castro, Secretary of State for Commerce and Services of Portugal, said it is of "integral importance" to continue to expand ties between the two regions and a priority for the European member states. Castro used the experience of Portugal in the European Union to highlight the importance of economic integration within a regional bloc while stressing the importance of establishing broader multilateral ties. He concluded that strong efforts to establish multilateral trade links not only counterbalance possible intraregional dependencies, but also serve to position countries more favourably in the world economy by providing access to markets that regional bilateral trading cannot reach.

            In order to effectively articulate interests in other regions, however, Mercosur must first define itself, said Argentine Daniel Sabsay, Executive Director of the Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. He called on Mercosur countries to develop common economic strategies, and to resolve legal conflicts such as Brazil's and Uruguay's reluctance to allow Mercosur legislation to take precedence over their own internal judicial systems.

            Undersecretary for Integration, Economic Affairs and Foreign Trade in Brazil's Ministry of External Relations, José Alfredo Graça Lima, agreed. Since Mercosur countries have a competitive advantage in agricultural products and labour intensive processes, the relevant question should not be where to concentrate efforts, but rather where these particular goods and services are most needed. Likewise, all regional trading blocs will have their own agendas (which probably helps explain the failure in Seattle), so neither is it important to focus on which existing bloc is positioned most closely to Mercosur. "Of interest now," he stated firmly, "is multilateralism and the push to find new markets."

            New markets, according to Khaya Ngqula, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Industrial Development Corporation in South Africa, are available in other developing countries. "What Seattle did was provide southern countries the opportunity to take a good look, take stock, and put our houses in order," he said. Ngqula believes it makes good sense for countries in the south to start talking to each other, adding that the impetus for future growth must come from within developing nations.

                  *{Contributors:       de Castro Osvaldo
                  Kanitz Stephen
                  Lima Jose Alfredo
                  MacKay Kenneth H.
                  Ngqula Khaya
                  Sabsay Daniel}