. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/127
12 November 2001
(01-5739)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth Session
Doha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  French
BURUNDI
Statement by H.E. Mr. Adolphe Nahayo
Ambassador, Permanent Representative in Geneva
The delegation of Burundi associates itself with previous delegations in thanking the
authorities of Qatar for hosting the Fourth Minister ial Conference of the WTO.  Thanks are also due
to the WTO Secretariat, in the person of the Director-General, Mike Moore, his colleagues and hisstaff, for their contribution to the organization and conduct of the Conference.  We wish also to
express our support for the Director-General's efforts to promote the integrated framework and the
reform of technical cooperation in the WTO.
The delegation of Burundi would now like to present to the Conference the compliments and
apologies of the new Minister of Trade and Industr y, Mr. Charles Karikurubu, who was unable to join
us because of his heavy schedule of work.  He has asked me to transmit his best wishes for the success
of the Conference.  Indeed, the transitional Government formed on the basis of the Peace and National
Reconciliation Agreement signed at Arusha, Tanzania, under the auspices of the Facilitator, Nelson
Mandela, was established on 30 October last.  The other institutions will follow by the end of this
month and we take advantage of this meeting to request the international community to support the
peace process in Burundi, because peace is necessary to trade.
Before I continue I must congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on being elected to direct the work
of the Fourth Ministerial Conference.
Taking the floor after the accession of the People's Republic of China to the WTO, as well as
that of the territory of Chinese Taipei, allow me to address my warm congratulations to our Chinese
friends.  We particularly welcome the accession of the People's Republic of China because it will
contribute to the equitable balance of the institution.
Returning to the Ministerial Conference, the Burundi delegation appreciates the inclusive
approach adopted by the Chairman of the Conference in the consultations and the negotiations on a
number of issues, in order to harmonize positions and thus ultimately produce a Ministerial
Declaration and a work programme which take account of the interests of all WTO Members.
However, the Burundi delegation is concerned by the fact that the agenda which has been the
subject of consultations or negotiations has not explicitly taken into account the proposals of most of
the developing countries, a group to which Burundi belongs.
In terms of form and procedure, it is surprising that the position of the trade ministers of the
least-developed countries, adopted in July 2001 in Zanzibar, that of the African trade ministers,
adopted in Abuja, Nigeria, in September of this year, and that of the ACP trade ministers meeting in
Brussels on 5 and 6 August of this month, have not been taken into consideration.  The content of thevarious declarations was transmitted to Geneva by the delegations concerned, as well as by the GroupWT/MIN(01)/ST/127
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of 77 and China, and by the supporters of the Development Agenda.  Unfortunately, it has to be noted
that the proposed draft texts do not reflect the concerns of the above-mentioned conferences.
This approach is reflected substantively in the indifference or confusion informing the Draft
Declaration and draft work programme in relation to issues of particular interest to the developingcountries, such as the need to simplify the procedures and regulations governing market access,
special and differential treatment, technical assistance, technology transfer and the strengthening of
capacities, as well as implementation issues.
The long period of silence during the consultations on the WTO waiver for the Cotonou
Agreement, the fleeting reference to the importance of non-trade concerns in the paragraphs relating
to agriculture, the silence on the request by the Director-General of the WTO to increase the regularbudget for technical assistance, all illustrate the lack of willingness to integrate uncompetitive
economies into the multilateral trading system.
Burundi properly appreciates the benefits of multilateral trade and wishes to see them
extended to all WTO Members.
It is our hope that the negotiations under way will serve to iron out the differences between
delegations, in the interests of each WTO Member, in order to make this Conference a success.
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