A U.N. report finds two decades of trade liberalization have successfully removed many of the barriers that used to limit trade from the continent. But, the report by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development says progress has been less than expected.
联合国贸易和发展会议的一份报告发现，非洲大陆进行了二十年的贸易自由化已成功地解除了以前限制贸易的很多障碍。但是，联合国的报告说，进展不如预期的那么快。
The report says trade liberalization in Africa has led to a slight increase in exports. But, it says these increases are far below those achieved in other developing regions.
这份报告说，非洲的贸易自由化使出口略微上升。但是报告指出，这些出口增长远低于其它发展中地区的出口增长。
UNCTAD Senior Economist and report author Charles Gore says Africa's share in world agricultural trade stood at 3.2 percent in 2006. He says this was lower than in 1985 when agricultural exports stood at 5.4 percent.
联合国贸易和发展会议资深经济学家和这份报告的撰稿人查尔斯-戈尔说，在2006年的世界农产品贸易中，非洲所占份额为3.2%。他说，这比1985年还低。非洲1985年的农产品出口占全球总量的5.4%。
"Even more worrying from the point of view of the report, is that there has been little diversification in the export composition. Diversification into high-value agricultural exports has only been successful in a few countries, notably Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. And there has also been very little diversification into manufactures exports," he said.
他说：“从这份报告的角度出发，更加令人担忧的是，非洲农产品出口几乎没有任何多样化。高价值农产品出口的多样化仅在几个国家取得成功，他们是科特迪瓦、埃塞俄比亚、加纳、肯尼亚、乌干达和赞比亚。而且制造业的出口也几乎没有任何多样化。”
Gore says diversification of African economies could ensure more robust and stable growth, but this has not occurred. He says the manufacturing sector could potentially yield higher profits and higher living standards.
戈尔说，非洲国家经济的多样化能确保更强劲和稳定的增长，但是这种情况却没有出现。他说，制造业可能会获得更高的利润和更高的生活标准。
He says governments must take effective steps to reverse several worrisome trends. These include decades of relative neglect of agriculture that have hindered African countries at a time of climbing commodity prices. "After trade liberalization, imports have increased as a share of GDP much more quickly than exports. And thus African countries have experienced a worsening trade balance. Overall, one may therefore characterize the export performance as modest, though in value terms this has been masked by the recent commodity price boom," he said.
他说，各国政府必须采取有效的措施扭转一些令人忧虑的发展趋势，包括数十年来对农业的相对忽视。在当前商品价格上升的局势下，这阻碍了非洲国家的发展。他说：“在贸易自由化之后，非洲国家的进口在国民生产总值中所占比重的增加，远比出口快得多。因此，非洲国家一直在经历着日益恶化的贸易平衡。整体而言，非洲国家的出口情况适度，尽管最近商品价格猛涨掩盖了这种适度增长的实际价值。”
The report says Africa is experiencing a food crisis mainly because of the negligence in development policies pursued during the past 25 years. U.N. Economists say a number of factors are hindering African agricultural performance.
这份报告说，非洲正经历粮食危机，其重要原因是过去25年来推行的忽视农业发展政策。联合国的经济学家说，一些因素在妨碍着非洲农业的发展。
Key constraints include poor physical infrastructure, inefficient product markets, lack of credit, and weak land and labor markets. They say gender division of labor and constraints on access for women to land also create problems.
主要的约束包括农业基础设施差，产品市场低效，信贷不足，土地贫瘠，劳动力市场不景气等。他们说，劳动分工的性别化，以及妇女在获取土地方面受到的限制，也都是问题。
The report says developed countries have an important role to play in helping African countries improve their export performance, notably through aid-for-trade initiatives.
这份报告说，发达国家在帮助非洲国家改善出口情况方面能发挥重要的作用， 特别是通过贸易援助计划。 |