WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/161
23 December 2003
(03-6755)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  English
KENYA
Statement by H.E. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi
Minister of Trade and Industry
I want to thank the Government and the people of Mexico for hosting the 5th WTO Ministerial
Conference.  I also wish to thank all those who were  involved with the preparations of the Conference
for their hard work and for creating this enabling working environment.
Nearly two years ago, we launched the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).  We recognized
development as the core element of this programme.   In the Declaration, issues such as agriculture,
S&DT, implementation issues, TRIPS and Public Health were given prominence.
Today as we reconvene here we are happy that after long and protracted negotiations in the
area of TRIPS and Public Health a compromise was reached at the General Council.  We hope this
will now avail cheaper medicines to deserving cases in the developing world.  We also look forward
to amendment of the TRIPS Agreement as a permanen t solution in this area.  On other issues the
movement has been rather slow and no meaningf ul results have been registered.  Immediate
intervention of this Conference is therefore needed  if these issues which gave the Doha Trade Round
a development agenda are to be resolved satisfactorily and concluded on time.
In Africa today, millions of people continue to live on less than two US dollars per day.  We
are unable to add value to our commodities due to tariff escalation and tariff peaks and we are also
unable to utilize fully the emerging market access opportunities due to supply side constraints and
non-tariff barriers.
Against this background and in order to build on the work programme we launched it is
important that the Cancún Ministerial Conference go a step further and improve on development
aspects of the Doha Work Programme.  This will enable developing countries to reap the benefits of
the multilateral trading system and also develop a sense of belonging to this trading system which hasregulated the global trade for nearly 50 years.
In this respect we need to move fast and addr ess all concerns related to agricultural subsidies
and other forms of support that undermine global trade.  We need to reaffirm and rededicate new
commitment on all development issues and also set realistic timelines and the right level of ambition.
This will complement and place the WTO in harmony with the Millennium Declaration
objectives intended to rescue a half of the world population out of the poverty trap by the year 2015.
We all need to rededicate our energy and effort to this noble cause.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the WTO Director-General for launching the WTO Trade
Policy Courses at the Universities of Nairobi and Casablanca in order to enhance capacity on MTS inWT/MIN(03)/ST/161
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English and French Speaking Africa respectively.  I also wish to thank the other two agencies, ITC
and UNCTAD for the technical assistance programmes that are being delivered under the Joint
Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP) which we hope will be continued beyond its
current phase.
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