WT/MIN(15)/W/18  
16 November 2015  
(15-6067)  Page: 1/3  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
 PROPOSAL FOR INCLUSION IN DECLARAT ION OF 10TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
SUBMISSION BY BANGLADESH ON  BEHALF OF THE LDC GROUP 
The following communication, dated 13 November 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group.  
 
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1. We, the Ministers, have met in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15-18 December 2015 at our Tenth 
Session. As we conclude our Session, we would like to express our deep appreciation to the Government and people of Kenya for the excellent organization and the warm hospitality we have 
received in Nairobi. 
 2. We reaffirm the principles and objectives set out in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing 
the World Trade Organization. We also recall the Declarations and Decisions we adopted at Doha 
and at the Ministerial Conferences we have held since then and reaffirm our full commitment to give effect to them.  
3. We acknowledge that international trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic 
development and the alleviation of poverty. We recognize the need for all our peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare gains that the multilateral trading system generates. 
The majority of WTO Members are developing countries. We seek to place their needs and 
interests at the heart of the Work Pr ogram adopted in this Declaration.  
 
4. We shall continue to make positive efforts de signed to ensure that developing countries, and 
especially the least-developed among them, se cure a share in the growth of world trade 
commensurate with the needs of their economic development.   
1  PART I - THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WT O AS AN ORGANIZATION INCLUDING ITS 
ACHIEVEMENTS, IN PARTICULAR IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS 20
TH ANNIVERSARY 
1.1.  Least-Developed countries remain vulnerable and continue to face structural difficulties in the 
global economy. In 2013, the LDC current account deficit reached US$40Bn1. 2The LDCs share in 
world merchandise trade was at 1.24%, with a sta ggering deficit of US$60.6 billion. The share of 
LDC global exports (excluding fuels) was 0.72%. LDC participation in world services exports was a 
paltry 0.68%. Investment inflows to the LDCs  represented only 1.9% of global inflows3; and 4the 
share of manufacturing value added for LDCs actu ally declined from 2% in 1992 to 1% in 2012. 
400 million live on less than one dollar a day. This situation stresses that initiatives taken so far in favour of LDCs through flexibility to LDCs in the application of trade rules and disciplines and in 
undertaking commitments as well as some initiatives for increasing trade opportunities and 
capacity building activities over the last 20 years are not sufficient enough. Therefore, we 
                                               
1The LDC Report of 2014, prepared by UNCTAD entitled: Growth With Structural 
Transformation: A Post-2015 Development Agenda  
2 WTO LDC Market access study 2014 
3UNCTAD Investment Report 2013 
4UNIDO Report 2013 WT/MIN(15)/W/18 
 
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  underscore the continued importance of initiatives in more effective manner aimed at fully and 
meaningfully integrating LDCs into the multilateral trading system. In this regard, we put emphasis on legally binding, and commercially me aningful outcomes: On transparent, objective 
and simplified Rules of Origin, Duty Free and Qu ota Free Market Access, Services, and Cotton.  
1.2.  We recall the commitments made by Minister s at all of our previous sessions and the July 
Framework, as well as by the international community at the Fourth UN Conference on Least-Developed Countries in Istanbul, to assist least-developed countries secure beneficial and 
meaningful integration into the multilateral trading system and the global economy. 
2  PART II - DELIVERABLES FOR MC10: RE GULAR WORK UNDER THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
AND RELATED DECISIONS; DDA DELIVERABLES 
REGULAR WORK 
2.1.  We fully endorse the Decision adopted by  the Council for TRIPS extending the transition 
period under Article 66.1 for Least Developed Country Members for certain obligations with respect to pharmaceutical products (IP/C/73), as well as the related waiver adopted by the General 
Council concerning Least Developed Country Members' obligations under Article 70.8 and Article 
70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement with respect to ph armaceutical products (document WT/L/..). We 
welcome the extension of the maximum flexibility accorded to the most vulnerable Members as a 
confirmation of the collective will of the WTO Membership to secure access to affordable medicines 
in these countries and as a concrete contribution to fulfilling targets on public health under the Sustainable Development Goals. 
2.2.  We welcome the extension of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) into the second 
phase and the positive outcome of the Donors Pledging Conference held in Nairobi on 14 
November 2015.  
DEVELOPMENT AND LDCS ISSUES 
2.3.  We agree on the following decisions taken in favor of LDCs at this Session: 
 Cotton 
 DFQF 
 Preferential Rules of Origin 
 Services waiver 
 Agreement specific special and differential treatment Proposals 
 [          …           ] 
3  PART III - FUTURE WORK OF THE WTO/POST NAIROBI 
3.1.  We reaffirm our commitment to the WTO as the pre-eminent global forum for trade, including 
negotiating and implementing trade rules, settlin g disputes, delivering trade-related technical 
assistance and capacity building programmes, and supporting development through the integration 
of developing countries into the global trading sy stem. In this regard, we reaffirm our commitment 
to the Doha Development Agenda, as well as to the regular work of the WTO. 
3.2.  We reaffirm the fundamental principles and objectives set out in the Marrakesh Agreement 
Establishing the World Trade Organization. We also recall the Declarations and Decisions we 
adopted at Doha and at the Ministerial Conferences we have held since then and reaffirm our full commitment to give effect to them. The future work of the WTO should continue to give credence 
to the centrality to the development dimension.  
3.3.  We take note of the progress made under the Doha mandates to date in carrying out the 
Doha Work Programme. We recognise that more work needs to be done to enable us to proceed towards the full, successful and multilateral conclusion of the negotiations pursuant to paragraphs 
45, 47 and 48 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration in fulfillment of the commitments we undertook 
at Doha. In those areas where we have reached a high level of convergence on texts, we undertake to maintain this convergence as the basis for further negotiations towards the WT/MIN(15)/W/18 
 
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  conclusion of the DDA. We direct the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee with close 
cooperation with the Chairman of the General Council to take the action necessary to enable us to move towards a successful and timely conclusion of the DDA negotiations. We shall continue to exercise close personal supervision of this process. 
3.4.  We strongly commit to addressing the marginalization of LDCs in international trade and to 
improving their effective participation in the multilateral system. Towards that end, we shall ensure that all issues of specific interest to Least Developed Countries shall be pursued on a 
priority basis with the view to strengthening them and making them, legally binding, and 
commercially meaningful. 
3.5.  We agree that special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular Least-
Developed Countries, shall be an integral part of all future negotiations and shall be embodied in 
schedules of concessions and commitments and as appropriate in the rules and disciplines to be 
negotiated, so as to be operationally effective and to enable developing countries, in particular Least Developed Countries, to effectively take account of their development needs, as set out in 
paragraph 13 and 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration 
3.6.  We underline the importance of Aid for Trade initiatives in trade-related capacity building; 
overcoming supply-side constraints; and infrastructure development; and facilitating integration of 
LDC economies in regional and global trade.  Toward s that end, we shall accord priority to the LDC 
projects and ensure that Aid for Trade will be av ailable for projects identified by the recipient 
governments, particularly in the areas of trade development, trade-related infrastructure, building productive capacity and trade-related adjustment, in order to lower trade costs. 
3.7.  We recognize the contribution of the Enha nced Integrated Framework (EIF) in mainstreaming 
trade in development policies of LDCs and building their trade capacity. This significant role in helping LDCs achieve their development objectives is duly recognized by the 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development Goals. We are determined to further intensify our efforts in securing the 
necessary level of financial contributions to the pr ogram with the view to enabling the delivery of 
predicable trade related support to LDCs, based on  the program needs as set out in the EIF Phase 
Two Programme Framework. 
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