24. The representative of Norway said that changes at the global and national levels required new approaches to supporting private sector development in developing countries. The Norwegian Government had therefore launched a comprehensive strategy for supporting such private sector development. The point of departure for the strategy had been the needs of the developing countries themselves and its aim had been to forge a basis for cooperation on a developing country's own terms and with the most efficient use of resources. The new strategy embraced efforts for more active participation in the global economy via stimulation of improved macroeconomic and legal conditions to incentive schemes at the micro level. An integrated approach implied regarding efforts at these levels in relation to one another and achieving better integration of bilateral and multilateral efforts. Globalization also implied closer integration of trade policy and development cooperation policy. Improvement of a developing country's potential for taking advantage of the WTO system in relation to globalization was one of the objectives of the new strategy. Improvement of legal, institutional and political framework conditions for private sector development played a central role in the strategy. Neither national initiatives nor foreign assistance would function efficiently unless a minimum of such framework conditions were in place. In many developing countries, inadequate framework conditions were perhaps the greatest bottleneck to sustainable economic development and caused foreign capital to flow to other, more predictable markets. The strategy for support for private sector development defined the frameworks both for supporting authorities in establishing satisfactory framework conditions for economic development and for more direct support for the activities of various players in promoting productive activities in developing countries. However, it had to be borne in mind that Norway and other donors could play only a limited role in relation to achieving private sector development in developing countries. The most decisive factors for the potential for private sector development in developing countries were the policies of the countries themselves, the framework conditions for local commercial and industrial activities, and international framework conditions for private sector development. As well as working to improve the general framework conditions, the Norwegian Government found it necessary to support more direct measures in the form of trade related technical assistance to the poorest countries so that they could make full use of the current schemes. In this connection, the WTO, in cooperation with five other international organizations, had established what was known as the integrated framework for trade related technical assistance to the least developed countries. Norway had given its support to the joint integrated technical assistance programme for selected Sub Saharan African countries, which was a part of the integrated framework. It would be natural to continue and extend these types of measures. Norway had also supported the establishment of an independent legal advisory centre to assist the poorest developing countries and others in trade disputes, so that they could better utilize the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. Efforts to motivate and stimulate Norwegian enterprises to involve themselves in developing countries belonged mainly in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and NORFUND. The guarantee scheme of the Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits (GIEK) for export to and investment in developing countries would also be an important instrument for reducing the risk involved for Norwegian enterprises. A publication created to give an overview of the different channels for support from NORAD could be obtained from his delegation.
