. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/37
11 September 2003
(03-4788)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  English
GUYANA
Statement by the Honourable Clement James Rohee, MP
Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation
On behalf of the Government of Guyana, I would like to congratulate the Government of
Mexico for hosting this very important Conference at an extremely critical time in the multilateral
trading system.  I would also like to express sincere thanks for the warm welcome and courtesiesextended to my delegation. I also recognize the enormous efforts and dedication of WTO
Director-General Dr Supachai and the staff of the WTO Secretariat in the preparation for this
Conference.
It is extremely crucial for Cancún to advance the Development Agenda which we established
at Doha nearly two years ago.  It will not be sufficient for us to simply reiterate the decisions taken
then nor would it be acceptable to revise the levels of ambition of the Doha Development Agenda
(DDA) in a manner that undermines the just concer ns and interests of the developing countries,
particularly the smaller developing economies.
At a minimum, we must pursue a positive and balanced agenda in which the special needs and
interests of the small developing Member countries are comprehensively addressed. Based on theclear evidence and our experience since the establishment of the WTO, this Ministerial Conference
needs to put the implementation issues, including th e special and differential treatment matters, which
we agreed to at Doha, on a fast track.  Nothing less would be workable, otherwise we risk
engendering greater imbalances in the multilateral trading system.
Initiatives being taken, as well as those already taken, by the small developing economies of
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to diversify and adjust to the changing global economic
environment require the full support of the international community, not the least of which are our
developed country partners.  As such, the trade liberalization we commit ourselves to must strengthen
the Development Agenda and lift our populations out of joblessness and poverty.
The economies of CARICOM are fully committed to a fair and balanced rules-based
multilateral trading system.  Fourteen of the fifteen CARICOM countries are Members of the WTO,
with the remaining one currently pursuing Memb ership.  These countries have all undertaken
unilateral adjustments during the Uruguay Round and continue to do so under the WTO.  Thesecountries, which are extremely open and highly dependent on external trade, need the policy space to
make the further adjustments for effective integration into the global economy.
My own country, Guyana, is confronted with numerous challenges as a highly indebted poor
country (HIPC) in seeking to respect its obligations and pursue its rights under the WTO.  We cannot
over-emphasize the urgency, therefore, for the WTO to move quickly beyond the exhaustive
clarification of particular difficulties facing sma ll, vulnerable economies in the international tradingWT/MIN(03)/ST/37
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environment that has been taking place, to proposing and adopting specific recommendations and
measures to ensure their beneficial participation in the WTO and the multilateral trading system.
We should conclude our deliberations in Cancún by first deepening and even expanding the
development focus of the multilateral trading system.  Admittedly, we have made incremental steps inthe past few years and the road from Doha to Cancún, though rocky in many respects, need not
remain that way.  It calls for political will from all of us and we should respond accordingly.
Various assessments have been done and the conclusions are unmistakably clear:  concrete
progress has to be made on the Development Agenda of the multilateral trading system is advance of
the next Ministerial Conference.  This is not a cal l by governments only, but indeed the wider civil
society.  We cannot afford not to hear and act quickly.
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