WT/MIN(15)/ST/46  
18 December 2015  
(15-6767)  Page: 1/1  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR OHAD COHEN 
HEAD OF THE FOREIGN TRAD E ADMINISTRATION (FTA) 
ISRAEL 
First a word to our hosts, our dear Kenyan friends: Minister Amina Mohamed - it is wonderful to be 
here.  For many of us it is the first opportunity to visit Africa, a remarkable continent with a huge potential for development, and it is a wonderful experience. Many thanks for the warm hospitality!  
Ladies and gentlemen, for a small island-like economy as Israel, navigating through the deep 
changes that are currently taking place in the world of trade is challenging. These are times of uncertainty. With the regional mega trade deals and with the proliferation of other FTAs, the focus, 
-- whether we like it or not, and regardless of one's position on the matter -- seems to be shifting 
from the multilateral arena to other negotiating platforms.   
But at this point in which we mark 20 years of intensive activity at the WTO, we feel it is important 
to remind ourselves what an immense achievement this organization and the current set of agreements embody.  I believe Israel serves as a good example for the benefits of open, free and 
stable global markets, becoming in the course of the last 2 decades a very active participant in 
some of the world's leading global value chains. We sometimes take it for granted, but one can 
easily imagine a global setting where this would not have been possible. We should keep this in mind when looking to the road ahead. 
 
Israel has supported all the attempts to co me to a comprehensive agreement of the DDA, 
including the recent attempts around the 2008 texts, and we sincerely regret that we couldn't 
come to a meaningful outcome. As it became clear in recent months that the DDA impasse is not 
likely to reach a breakthrough, some voices were ca lling for a period of refl ection, and for focusing, 
at least in the meanwhile, on the impressive daily work at the WTO at monitoring and brokering the current set of agreements. Admittedly, we are concerned with what these voices might imply 
for the negotiating function of the WTO. A working platform for negotiating new multilateral 
agreements is for us a strategic need. Moreover, we believe it is a key function of this organization, and we are concerned that without it the WTO would gradually loose its relevance. 
 
This concern has led us to adopt a practical approach embracing all platforms that have the potential to be fruitful. This is also why we have joined all the recent plurilateral initiatives, even 
sometimes without significant commercial interest on our side. We believe these initiatives need to 
become building blocks contributing to the multi-lateral trading system, not replacing it.   To conclude, we strongly believe in this organization and its key role in our world. We are 
committed to negotiating within the WTO framework, taking into consideration developing 
countries' concerns. We also remain ambitious and forward looking, and we are convinced that with 20 years of WTO's legacy in mind, we should continue to look for consensus wherever it could 
be found. 
 
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