. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/154
13 September 2003
(03-4923)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  English
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Statement by H.E. Mr. Siaosavath Savengsuksa
Vice Minister of Commerce
On behalf of the Government of the Lao PDR, I wish to convey my gratitude to the
Government and people of Mexico for their warm hospitality extended to us as well as my
appreciation for the fine arrangements made by the WTO for this Ministerial Conference.
We are here in Cancún to take stock of the progress of the negotiations launched since 2001
and to give the political guidance to the second half of the negotiations.
Least-developed countries have committed themselves to the rule-based multilateral trading
system, including the Lao PDR who is still in the early stage of accession.  Cambodia and Nepal are
well under way to celebrate their membership in this Conference.  No doubt that the accession process
has been arduous, difficult and painful.
Allow me to brief you about the Lao PDR.  It  shares common characteristics of other LDCs,
namely, low national income, weak human assets, and high economic vulnerability.  Agriculture
dominates the economy as agricultural product makes up around half of national output while morethan 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas and involves in agricultural activities.
The Lao PDR has embarked upon a comprehensive programme of economic and trade policy
reforms since mid 1980s.  Among others, we became a member of the ASEAN in 1997.  And in that
same year, we applied for WTO membership.
We are ambitious to join the WTO club in the hope that this would lead us to higher
economic growth and the reversal of poverty incidence.  Nevertheless, we feel that effective measures
are needed to make trade work as an engine of growth and human development.  Given the
differences in levels of development and the ability of countries to assume obligations, it is imperativeto ensure that equal rules do not apply to unequal players in the world trading system.
In this connection, I would like to stress on a number of issues that concern LDCs and
urgently need to be addressed.
First, agriculture is the dominant sector of our economies and it provides the likelihood for
the majority of our population.  In this connection, we need meaningful market access as well as
substantial reduction in domestic and export subsidies of agricultural production in developed
countries.
Second, non-agricultural products exported from developing and least-developed countries
face high levels of tariff escalation and tariff peak.  Thus, NAMA should be negotiated with a view toWT/MIN(03)/ST/154
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achieving a simple, ambitious, non-linear, harmonizing formula. The product coverage shall be
comprehensive and without prior exclusions.
Third, acceding to the WTO for many LDCs is a daunting task.  Negotiating partners should
fully adhere to the LDCs' Accession Guidelines adopted by the WTO General Council in Decemberlast year.  The accession negotiations shall not put a burden on us but reflect our trade, development,
competitiveness and financial needs.
Fourth, the greatest benefit will incur to LDCs if developed countries allow for free
movements of natural persons particularly low-skilled and semi-skilled.  If capital and goods can
cross the border smoothly, why should we not treat the other factor of production, labour, in the same
manner?
Fifth, the special and differential treatment promises to provide policy space to assist and
facilitate the beneficial integration of LDCs into the world trading system through expansion of trade
and investment.  Yet many of the S&D provisions  have not been materialized.  Thus, we should
provide the negotiation forum with a view to making the S&D precise and operational for alldeveloping and least-developed countries.
My proposals may seem too ambitious.  But they are basically mandated in the Doha
Development Agenda and the Dhaka Declaration.  The wide diversity of interests represented here,
together with the need to make progress across all fronts, means that all countries should be preparedto work in a spirit of flexibility and compromises.  I strongly confine that if we take a coordinated
position with a view to achieving a fair deal in the world trade, we can find the best solutions for all
parties.
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