. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/117
13 September 2003
(03-4903)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  French
CAMEROON
Statement by H.E. Mr Maïgari Bello Bouba
Minister of State, Ministry for Industrial and Trade Development
And so we meet again, this time in the lovely city of Cancún which, together with the
Government and all the people of Mexico, is hosting this session of the WTO Ministerial Conference,
convened at regular intervals in order to take deci sions on the multilateral trade agreements for which
the Organization is responsible.
Before dealing with substantive issues, allow me to express my gratitude, and that of my
delegation, to you, Mr Chairman, and to the Government and the people of Mexico, for a warm
welcome and for all the facilities provided to ensure that our stay in Mexico is an enjoyable one and
that our work is completed successfully. I have no doubt that, under your wise guidance, this
Conference will live up to the task set us by the WTO.
I should also like to pay tribute to H.E. Mr Carlos Pérez del Castillo, Chairman of the General
Council, and H.E. Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the WTO, for their tireless effortsand unceasing personal devotion in the search for solutions and areas of common ground in response
to the problems facing all of us at the WTO.
It is thanks to their dedication, and their determination to understand and reconcile the
concerns of Member countries, either through our plenipotentiaries in Geneva or in contact with ourcapitals, that you have been able to provide us with a framework for these negotiations.
In spite of missed deadlines and opposing views that have too often prevented us from seeing
eye to eye on issues of vital importance, the boost you have given us today has opened up
encouraging prospects for the remainder of this negotiation process.
However, there is clearly a long way to go to find appropriate solutions to the problems we
face, with a view to ensuring our smooth and progressive integration into the global economy.  This is
particularly true of key sectors such as agriculture, upon which a country like mine, and so many
others in the developing world, depend for most of th eir subsistence, not to mention their wealth.  Nor
can we overlook issues such as special and differential treatment, implementation, market access for
non-agricultural products, to mention but a few.
Understandably, we are deeply concerned about the future of bananas, Cameroon's second
largest export, in view of the looming uncertainties of a constantly changing common organization of
the market.  Today, my Government has been able to assess the risks arising in that context.  We urge
the WTO to give serious consideration to the case of endangered ACP agricultural products, andparticularly ACP bananas.WT/MIN(03)/ST/117
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My delegation cannot fail to join in the calls made by speakers for the various groups of
States concerned for the needs of our countries to be taken into account at long last, as we strive for
development and prosperity through a trading system based on a better regulated, fairer, more
equitable partnership of benefit to us all.
If, in all probability, we cannot expect to see firm and precise commitments made at this
session, presumably we can at the very least renew our commitment to the programme set forth in
Doha, and to the whole of the Doha Agenda, with all of its ambitions, while giving ourselves the
necessary time to agree on better means and the time-frame for implementation.
At a time when the gap between rich and poor countries only continues to widen, and when
the list of least developed countries, instead of getting shorter or even disappearing, only continues to
swell with new arrivals, the credibility of our Organization depends upon its capacity to provide
practical, concrete and realistic solutions to the problems it faces, problems which affect the lives of
the vast majority of people on this planet.
My delegation offers you its full support in this noble task.
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