Tuesday, December 10, 2019
The Bahamas’ bid to attain full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership has been made harder by the spread of untruths on social media, the Government’s top negotiator has argued.
Zhivargo Laing, an ex-Cabinet minister, told a Bahamas Bureau for Standards and Quality (BBSQ) trade seminar that Bahamians had been turned against WTO membership through the circulation of misinformation, half-truths and falsehoods via the Internet and social media.
“It’s been more difficult because of the social media opportunities people have use of—those broad and powerful platforms to spread things that are not true. That makes it more difficult than anything else,” Mr Laing said.
He confirmed that The Bahamas is on the verge of setting a world record for the longest-ever WTO accession process, which is now in its 19th year after starting in 2001. To date, the process has passed through five different government administrations and only completed two out of the seven steps required.
“The average time for acceding to the WTO is about nine-and-a-half years,” he said. “The time taken by us so far means that we are nearing record setting,” Mr Laing said. He added that the Seychelles was currently the record holder at 20 years.
“The shortest was three years by Kyrgyz Republic. It was the Government’s aim to conclude the WTO accessions by the next ministerial conference of the WTO in June of next year. That will not now happen,” Mr Laing said. “Any fair reading of our present circumstances would suggest that we are looking at probably a minimum of five additional years.”
Dr Renae Bufford, director of The Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality, said in her remarks: “Knowing that standards will play a significant role in The Bahamas’ drive towards accession to membership in WTO, it was only natural that BBSQ should conceive of and host this forum. It seeks to inform on and clarify some key issues on the accession process.
“Technical aspects of the day will focus on non-tariff measures (NTMs) and technical barriers to trade (TBT), which are particularly important to a nation such as The Bahamas that relies heavily on imports.”
Comments
BahamaPundit says...
Here we go again.
Posted 10 December 2019, 6:10 p.m. Suggest removal
ThisIsOurs says...
well we can't be the slowest...how would that look? So let's just go it.
Posted 10 December 2019, 6:25 p.m. Suggest removal
The_Oracle says...
If one is going to reference untruths, one must start with the truth, something which to date, the Government has not done. In fact, as Junior Finance minister at the time of inception, it would become obvious that the untruths have come full circle upon Mr. Laing.
Funny that he would now want clarity.
he has the position papers since 2001. publish them.
Walk us down the garden path sir. Let us know where the pot holes are.
Posted 10 December 2019, 10:45 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
The problem with Zhivago Liang is he is the biggest obstruction to the truth getting to the Bahamian people about the WTO. When he discusses the matter on his talk show, he clearly edits his comments. And if a caller brings up a point he disagrees with or doesn’t want his listeners to hear the response would be ‘O I wasn’t aware of that’ or ‘This is the WTO we talking about now’. Then it would be followed by a quick OK, thank you caller. But the fact is a lot of things Zhivargo Liang disputes in public forums about the WTO, he comes back and recants ain a softer, less public setting. So he is the one creating the confusion about the WTO. Persons on social media has as much right to express their feelings and opinions as Zhivago Liang does. And because he is failing miserably to sell WTO to the Bahamian People, he is looking for a scapegoat, yes he is.
Posted 11 December 2019, 9:33 a.m. Suggest removal
BahamaPundit says...
And why is he even fighting? He seems to fight people for no reason and to the detriment of the WTO. Telling the whole truth about the WTO would sell his product so much better than discounting everyone with a different view.
Posted 11 December 2019, 10:39 a.m. Suggest removal
DWW says...
still waiting for the reason why it is a benefit. what exactly do we get out of it? better standards and quality control? can the Bahamas not do that without joining some dodgy group of hired guns?
Posted 11 December 2019, 2:03 p.m. Suggest removal
BahamaPundit says...
The whole point is FDI for the Bahamas, which is a complete abuse of the purpose of WTO to govern the export of goods. The government wants to intice investors so they have more palms to grease. Basically, the Bahamas wants to use WTO fraudulently. The purpose of the WTO is to govern the exportation of goods, but the Bahamas Government wants to use it to join an elite club and entice members to invest.
Posted 11 December 2019, 7:04 p.m. Suggest removal
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