VOA标准英语2008年-Cape Verde Businesses Respond to WTO Membership

Business leaders in Cape¹ Verde are responding to their country's ascension to the World Trade Organization. While business leaders agree the measure should enhance the competitiveness of the island nation, Brent Latham reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar some in Cape Verde doubt the small country's businesses are ready to compete on an international level.

Representatives of local businesses in Cape Verde have accepted their country's membership in the World Trade Organization with optimism and reservation.

The small nation became the 153rd member of the WTO Wednesday in Geneva.

While most business people in Cape Verde agree WTO membership will bring about changes to help businesses improve their competitiveness, some expressed concern that businesses would be unable to survive without national protection and preferences, which will be gradually eliminated under WTO rules.

The economic dimensions of the country of just 500,000 inhabitants make it difficult for Cape Verde's businesses to compete on an international level, says the President of the Barlavento Chamber² of Commerce, Luis Vasconcelos.

Vasconcelos says WTO membership will have some negative consequences for some businesses in Cape Verde. He says there will be new, complicated regulations they will need to follow.

Nevertheless, Vasconcelos sees WTO membership as an opportunity for Cape Verde. With the opening of larger potential markets, Cape Verde's industries will have the opportunity to diversify³, he says, giving Cape Verde an advantage over countries in similar economic situations.

A spokesman for Cape Verde's stock exchange said it was too early to determine the effect on the country's largest companies.

Mendoza says that Cape Verdean companies will now need to comply more with international standards and practices, which should enhance competitiveness.

Mendoza says foreign companies will have an easier time coming to Cape Verde than local companies going abroad. He says only four companies, with a total capitalization of about $150,000, have been listed on the stock exchange. Mendoza says WTO membership is likely to help increase that number.

National Institute of Agrarian⁴ Investigation⁵ and Development program manager Carla Tavares said WTO membership is not likely to affect the country's agricultural sector⁶ since Cape Verde is a net importer of food.

Tavares says the country has a lot of work to do before it will be ready to export agricultural products.

Cape Verde, Africa's westernmost nation, is composed of 10 main islands about 500 kilometers off the coast of Senegal. The economy depends principally on tourism.

Last year, Cape Verde became only the second country, following Botswana in 1994, to be considered sufficiently⁷ developed for removal from the United Nation's list of least developed countries.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

4 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。