WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/57
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5221)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
LIECHTENSTEIN
Statement byH.E. Mr.Roland Marxer
Ambassador, Permanent Representative totheWTO atGeneva
Onbehalf ofMs.Andrea Willi, theForeign Minister ofthePrincipality ofLiechtenstein, who
apologises fornotbeing inaposition toattend thishistoric firstMinisterial Conference, Iwould like
toextend mywarmest thanks tothePrime Minister ofSingapore, H.E.Mr.GohChok Tong, forhosting
theConference andforthewarm welcome wehaveallbeengiven inthisbeautiful city.
Iwould alsoliketoexpress theappreciation oftheLiechtenstein delegation fortheexcellent
work theDirector-General, Mr.Renato Ruggiero andtheMembers oftheSecretariat havedoneduring
thelasttwoyears.
TheWorld Trade Organization hasbeenexisting fortwoyears nowandwearepleased tosee
thatallAgreements areoperational andthedispute settlement system isfunctioning well. The
implementation oftheUruguay results istaking place inareasonably efficient manner, butweshould
notforget thatsome implementation work stillhastobedone, soastoensure thattheresults ofthe
Uruguay Round areimplemented faithfully andintheirentirety andinaccordance withtheestablished
timetable andmodalities.
Astofuture developments weshould assure thatthetime-frames established intheAgreements
willberespected ineachcase. However, anacceleration ofsteps tofurther liberalize trade should
behandled most carefully, inorder togiveallMembers thepossibility tofulfil theircommitments
andthustobackthecredibility oftheWorld Trade Organization forthemedium andlongterm.
Aware oftheadvantages thetrading system oftheWorld Trade Organization offers, Iwould
liketoexpress thehopethatitsruleswillberespected byallMember countries nowandinthefuture.
Being asmall country, Liechtenstein hastorelyontheruleoflawbeing observed byallMember States.
TheLiechtenstein delegation welcomes newinitiatives, asforexample thebeginning of
examination work concerning therelationship between trade andinvestment, studies inthefieldof
competition lawandespecially ananalytical work onthesimplification oftrade procedures.
Thedevelopmentofamultilateralagreementonprinciplesrelatedtotransparencyofgovernment
procurement practices isfullysupported bytheLiechtenstein Government, andIcaninform youthat
Liechtenstein isactually preparing itsmembership intheWTO Agreement onGovernment Procurement.
Thelinkbetween trade andsocial standards isanother issue which needs, according toour
point ofview, tobeexamined inthecontext oftheincreasing global economic interdependence.
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International cohesion, cooperation andintegration require avision embracing thevalues onwhich
oursocieties rest,including acommitment tohuman rights.
Thefruits ofanopentrading system canonlybeenjoyed inasound environment. Mydelegation
would liketoencourage theCommittee onTrade andEnvironment tocontinue itswork.
Through theirmembership intheWTO, Member States havecommitted themselves tocloser
international cooperation. Thisalsoincludes theintegration ofleastdeveloped anddeveloping countries
aswellaseconomies intransition intothismultilateral system. Itshould betheaimofallcountries
toachieve faster growth indeveloping countries, inparticular through measures toremove, rather
thancreate, barriers todeveloping country exports.