WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/124
13 September 2003
(03-4914)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  French
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
Statement by H.E. Mr Amadou Soumahoro
Minister for Commerce
On behalf of my delegation I should like first to join other speakers in expressing my
profound gratitude to the Government and people of Mexico for their hospitality and for the excellent
organization of this Conference which, we greatly hope, will endeavour to respond to the many
challenges facing us.
I should also like to pay particular tribute to the Chairman of the Conference and to the
Director-General of the WTO for the considerable effo rts they have made in preparing this Ministerial
Session.
The accession of Cambodia and Nepal to our Organization demonstrates the vitality of the
WTO and the confidence we increasingly place in it.  I warmly congratulate those nations and assure
them in advance of Côte d'Ivoire's complete cooperation.
Doha left its mark on the history of the Organization by calling for, among other things,
access to medicines and the progressive reduction and ultimate elimination of subsidies.  My
delegation regards these as significant advances for the developing countries, as an important steptowards strengthening the universal character of a more equitable multilateral trading system
profitable to all.
Meeting here in this magnificent city of Cancún for the Fifth Ministerial Conference we too
must leave our mark on history, as long as we succeed in conducting a constructive debate that willlead to results that serve the broad interests of the world community and enhance the WTO's image.
Such an outcome will, I am convinced, help to eliminate the existing imbalances between Member
countries.
Again, how can we fail to wonder at the way some countries of the North do not fulfil their
commitments under existing agreements?  Export subsidies, domestic support, market access
barriers – these are merely signs of the flagrant injustice suffered by developing countries.
The Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton for the African-producing countries is a perfect
example of the disarray in the countries of our continent.  The Initiative is the outcome of hardthinking in our countries intended to make sure th at the countries of the North are aware of their
failure to respect their commitments.  My delegation greatly hopes that, when its provisions have been
accepted, the Initiative will break the vicious circle of poverty that clutches the continent and thus
marginalizes it, leaving it on the sidelines of globalization.
Agricultural products, in addition to their commercial value, help to improve the population's
living standard, regional balance and, more generally, the struggle against poverty.WT/MIN(03)/ST/124
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As an agricultural country par excellence , as an exporter of such agricultural products as
cocoa, coffee, cotton, bananas, pineapples, Côte d'Ivoire reaffirms its position regarding the removal
of all kinds of subsidies on agricultural products.
With reference to trade-related intellectual property rights and access to medicines,
Côte d'Ivoire welcomes the recent decision in Geneva on access to generic drugs for the poor
countries.  It is the first significant step in rega rd to trade-related intellectual property rights and
public health and one that we fully appreciate.
However, it has to be recognized that it is a minimum agreement calling for caution.
Côte d'Ivoire therefore appeals for international solidarity in coping with endemic diseases, and
especially the AIDS pandemic, which threatens their very existence of whole nations.  In thisconnection, I wish, on behalf of my country, to welcome the recent decisions on financial support in
combating this scourge, even if the effort is still inadequate, in view of the scope of the devastating
effects of AIDS in Africa.
It will be seen that the difficulties of the developing countries are not inevitable, nor are they
a curse.  They are the result of factors tied in with inadequate development policies, on the one hand,
and on the other, a world order that pays little attention to the interests of the weakest.  It is not idle to
point out that Africa is weighed down by the burden of foreign debt that accounts for almost
two thirds of the continent's GDP.  This is compounde d by debt servicing, which takes up a large part
of constantly declining exports and so leads to suffocation.  Moreover, Africa attracts less than 1 percent of foreign direct investment, yet the yield on investment in the continent is one of the highest in
the world.
Moreover, in view of the commitments it is called upon to make, Côte d'Ivoire is deeply
concerned about the services balance of developing countries in general and the African countries inparticular.  My country reaffirms the need in these negotiations to respect the principle of progressive
liberalization, the right of each Member to regulate its services trade in terms of its development
objectives, in accordance with the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
My delegation greatly hopes that our Organization will pay special attention to the principle
of special and differential treatment, taking account of the level of development of some countries, for
the purpose of saving certain sensitive sectors of their economies.
This Fifth Ministerial Conference in Cancún affords us an opportunity to judiciously adapt
our Organization's decisions so as to respond effectively and equitably to the objective development
needs of the weakest countries.
Like all countries in Africa, Côte d'Ivoire refuses to be placed on the sidelines as a mere
supplier of commodities.  We want more account to be taken of the concerns of our continent for
better integration of Africa in globalization so that this will be translated into strengthened negotiating
potential and the will to construct a coherent and dynamic whole.
For this reason, it is Côte d'Ivoire's ardent hope that products in early processing stages will
be associated with market access.
In addition, Côte d'Ivoire calls on this Conference to consolidate the preferences obtained by
developing countries in exports of certain products, more particularly, tuna, so as to strengthen asector that is important for the industrial activity of a large number of our countries.
I should like on behalf of the people and Government of Côte d'Ivoire to express our warm
gratitude to the international community for its solida rity and the steady efforts it has made to help my
country to gradually break loose from the harsh crisis it has recently experienced, and despiteWT/MIN(03)/ST/124
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everything, my country undertakes to respect all its international commitments and to shoulder its
share of responsibility in the concert of nations.
Côte d'Ivoire would like, through me, to reiterate its firm intention to work effectively for
lasting growth and to combat poverty, two aims th at are fundamental to the National Reconciliation
Government.
I cannot conclude my remarks without paying my respects to the memory of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Sweden, whose tragic death has been a matter of consternation for us here at the
start of our work.  On behalf of my Government, I wish to express our condolences to Sweden.
Lastly, I should like to say how much Côte d' Ivoire welcomes the holding of this Fifth
Conference and expresses the hope that the development Round started in Doha will be completed on
time, for the greatest benefit of the developing countries in general and the African countries in
particular.
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