Utility of the system for the developing countries:

Main utility  of the system arises out of compulsions.  If a country  has to engage in import and export,  it must have agreements with other  countries,  as its goods and  services cannot automatically  enter other countries; there has  to  be permission  for  it. Thus  to send exports  to other countries, a developing country will need  to have bilateral agreements with  all of them. The need for such multitudinous  agreements  is obviated by having a multilateral framework  like the WTO, where the member countries  allow import and export of goods and services among themselves.

And  the developing countries need to export, because  (i) they need  foreign exchange to  pay for their essential imports, like fuel,  technology,  capital goods, industrial  intermediates, some times even food, etc. and (ii)  they need markets in  other countries for their goods and' services to  expand their production, employment and profit. Thus the compulsions of export and import make the multilateral  trading system  relevant and usefil to the countries. It  is unlikely that a developing country will get a better deal in  a bilateral agreement  than what it gets in the multilateral framework. This feature further reinforces the importance of the multilateral trading framework.

Further, the multilateral system provides collective security. The mechanism for enforcement of rights and obligations in the WTO, embodied in its dispute settlement  system, provides some protection against unilateral actions qf other countries.

Besides, there  are  some  other  fiinge  benefits.  Being a member of the community of  countries,  a country has the opportunity to  learn  from  the experiences of other countries and also influence the process to some extent. Finally, as the GATTIWTO framework for conducting international trade has been in existence for nearly six decades now, it will be odd for a country  to remain out of it and it may even be seen with suspicion  by others. For all these  reasons the developing  countries are motivated to be a part of  this system. Now a large number of them are members and many more are in the process of joining it. The  developing  countries  are  nearly four times in numerical strength in the WTO compared to the developed countries.