WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/2
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1954)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
BAHRAIN
Statement circulated byH.E. Mr.AliSaleh Al-Saleh
Minister ofCommerce
Onbehalf oftheBahrain government, Iwould liketoexpress ourappreciation totheSwiss
government, theGeneral Council Chairman, andtheDirector-General, Mr.Ruggiero andhisstaff,
fortheir efforts inpreparing forthistheSecond Ministerial Meeting oftheWTO, andthe50th
Anniversary oftheMultilateral Trading System.
Ithastaken us50years toarrive atthispoint intimewhen wecanreally claim tohavemade
some progress inliberalizing trade through theMultilateral Trading System. Theincreased volume
ofworld trade in1997 isareflection oftheglobalization process, andthough thisprocess continues,
theAsian currency crisis might impact onthe1998 results, sowemust make every effort toreduce
thepossible effects byproviding advice andassistance through international organizations suchasthe
IMF, theWorld Bank andtheWTO, toensure thatasimilar crisis doesnotariseinother regions.
Wecanreflect onanumber ofachievements since ourfirstministerial meeting inSingapore;
theprotocol onbasic telecommunications, andthesuccess ofnegotiations onfinancial services, mark
thesuccess oftheWTO during thisperiod, andwehopethattheunfinished business ofthevarious
otherworking groups willbefinalized andthefindings submitted fordiscussion inournextconference.
TheimplementationoftheWTOAgreementwillcontinuetoowemuchtothetechnicalassistance
provided bytheWTO Secretariat andother international organizations, aswellasthefinancial support
ofsome developed countries toholdworkshops dealing withtherequirements andobligations ofthe
various WTO Agreements, andwehopethatsuchassistance willcontinue andintensify inthefuture.
Wefeelthattheprocess ofaccession isprolonged, andstrongly support theacceleration of
proceedings, particularly toGulfandArabcountries suchastheKingdom ofSaudi Arabia, theSultanate
ofOman, theKingdom ofJordan andtherepublics ofAlgeria andSudan; webelieve thatsuchacceding
countries should notbeobliged toundertake obligations inexcess ofthose applied topresent Members.
Wealsosubscribe totheviewthatwhen applying transitional periods toacceding countries, thelevel
oftheireconomic development should betaken intoconsideration.
Bytheendof1999thetransitionalperiodsofsomeAgreementswillexpire,andmanydeveloping
countries maystillnotbeready forthefullimplementation oftheseAgreements, andwewould advocate
theconsideration ofproviding extension insuchcases.
Foritspart,Bahrain isintheprocess ofchanging itscommercial lawswherever necessary,
inorder tocomply withtheWTO requirements.
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Wefullysupport theideaofholding thethirdMinisterial Conference in1999, which being
ontheeveofthenewmillennium, should include ontheagenda issues which areofimportance to
ensuring thatdeveloping countries arenotmarginalized bythefuture globalization process, aswell
asother issues ofparticular interest tothedeveloping countries suchaspetroleum andpetrochemicals,
andtechnology transfer.
Bahrain isasmall island Statewhich hasembraced theopen-market philosophy. Webelieve
thattheglobalization process provides theworld withitsbestchance forwidespread sustainable growth,
andinouropinion, suchgrowth holds thekeytoamore secure international environment, andwe
must allgothatextra miletoensure thesuccess offuture negotiations.
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