The Fifth Trade Policy Review of El Salvador has provided us with a good opportunity to assess and enhance our understanding on the wide range of trade policies and practices of El Salvador since its last Review in 2016 and acknowledge the challenges it faces.
The review has benefitted from the constructive participation of El Salvador’s delegation, headed by Ms María Luisa Hayem Brevé, Minister of Economy; from the insightful comments of the discussant, H.E. Ambassador José Valencia, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the WTO; and from the 27 delegations that took the floor during this meeting. I would like to thank them all for their contribution to this exercise.
Members commended El Salvador for the resilience of its economy and its quick recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many noted the economy’s substantial growth in 2021, driven by strong domestic and external demand and an increase in remittances. They also highlighted the rapid expansion in exports of goods and services. Several Members referred to the fact that El Salvador was the first country to adopt the Bitcoin as legal tender and were keen to have more information about its use, impact on financial inclusion, and the economy.
Members recognized the important efforts undertaken by El Salvador to promote inclusive and sustainable development as well as to improve the business environment, promote investment and enhance innovation. Bearing in mind that El Salvador is a small, open economy, the crucial role of trade as a tool to foster economic development was stressed. In this regard, Members welcomed the adoption by El Salvador of several initiatives such as the Trade and Investment Policy 2020-50, the National Trade Facilitation Strategy 2023-27, the National Digital Agenda 2020-30, and the Productive Innovation Ecosystem. Some Members expressed interest in learning more about these strategies.
One of the main initiatives undertaken by El Salvador to improve the trade and investment environment is the simplification and digitization of administrative procedures which cuts across many policy areas. In this connection, Members recognized efforts towards customs modernization, trade facilitation, risk management, improvements in transparency and the regulatory environment, the promotion of MSMEs and gender equality, and the modernization of physical infrastructure. Some Members also welcomed reforms made to domestic legislation regarding competition policy, government procurement, and intellectual property rights.
El Salvador’s commitment to regional integration in Central America was noted, with several Members highlighting the importance of this process as a means to further the region’s insertion into global value chains, and encouraged El Salvador to continue on this path. Likewise, Members noted El Salvador’s network of free trade agreements, encompassing more than 40 economies and welcomed its efforts to take full advantage of the trade opportunities offered by these agreements.
Members commended El Salvador for its support of the multilateral trading system, its active participation in the WTO, its ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, as well as its participation in several Joint Statement Initiatives. In particular, El Salvador was praised for its leadership in the Working Group on Trade and Gender. Several Members invited El Salvador to join the Agreement on Government Procurement, the environmental initiatives, the Friends of Transparency Group, and the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement.
Amid this overall positive assessment, some challenges were identified. El Salvador was encouraged to keep up its efforts to further diversify its economy and exports. Some Members were of the view that El Salvador’s government procurement procedures could benefit from further transparency. Noting that some notifications were pending, Members encouraged El Salvador to put its WTO notification record up to date, including information on subsidies granted under free trade zones. In this respect, we were pleased to hear from Minister Hayem today that El Salvador has put its notifications up to date. More clarity regarding multiple agency regulatory requirements was also sought. In their written questions, Members enquired about the timeline for the full implementation of the single window, intellectual property regulations and enforcement, export restrictions on agricultural products, antidumping, market access in financial services, and the effect of remittances on investment, among other issues.
In total, El Salvador received 190 advance written questions from 18 delegations for this Review, out of which 131 were sent within the established deadline, covering a broad range of topics. Prior to this meeting, El Salvador provided written replies to all questions received within the deadline. In addition, a few follow-up questions were submitted after the first day.
The Salvadorean delegation has demonstrated that it places a high value on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism and the Multilateral Trading System with its active engagement over the two‑day meeting and throughout the various phases of this exercise. The number of interventions and the breadth of the questions reflect the interest of Members in El Salvador’s trade and related policies.
I hope that El Salvador will consider and further reflect on the constructive comments and suggestions that it received during the Review.
Members look forward to receiving answers to follow-up questions within one month, at which time this Review will conclude.
Source: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp540_crc_e.htm
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