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WT/MIN(17)/SR/2  
 
4 April  2018 
(18-2055) Page: 1/3 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017    
 
SUMM ARY RECORD OF THE FI RST PLENARY SESSION  
HELD AT THE HILTON CONVENTION CE NTRE , 
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENT INA ON MONDAY, 11 DECEMB ER, AT 10 .15 A.M. 
Chairperson: Her Ex cellency Ms Susana Malcorra (Argentina ) 
 
 
1  OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITI ES OF THE WTO (AGEND A ITEM 1)  
1.1.  The Chair person  called the meeting to order.  
1.2.  She thanked the Vice -Chairs that would assist her over the course of those days: H.E. Dr. 
Okechukwu Enelamah (Nigeria); H.E. Hon. David Pa rker (New Zealand) and Mr. Edward Yau (Hong 
Kong, China).  
1.3.  She expressed her gratitude to the Minister -Facilitators that had accepted her invitation to 
assist her and the Director -General in facilitating discussions on a number of issues:  H.E. Minister 
Amina Mohamed (Kenya) for Agriculture; H.E. Minister Kamina Johnson Smith (Jamaica) for 
Fisheries; H.E. Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (Norway) for Development; H.E. Minister Alioune Sarr 
(Senegal) for e -commerce and H.E. Minister Eladio Loizaga Caballero (Par aguay) for 
Services/NAMA.  She noted that the process of the f acilitators would start later that morning, at 
12 noon, with an Open -ended meeting on Agriculture facilitated by Minister Mohamed. The 
meetings would continue according to the schedule which had been communicated to all 
delegations in an Information Note circulated in document WT/MIN(17)/INF/27.  
1.4.  She also noted that later that day at 5 pm, an Open Ended meeting with her as the MC11 
Chair was scheduled. It would be a Ministers' Dialogue which would  provide an opportunity for 
Members  to have a frank exchange of ideas. It would be interactive. There would be no prepared 
statements – just "Minister to Minister". To help frame their discussion for that meeting, she had 
prepared a note that would be dist ributed. She invited all of them to read it and to actively 
participate in the Ministers' Dialogue that afternoon.  
1.5.  She then delivered her address which was subsequently circulated in WT/MIN(17)/47 . 
1.6.  The Director -General  noted that the facilitators would be an essential part of the process in 
their work ahead . He thank ed them for being willing to take on their roles. They were  well-
prepared and well -supported. He  urged Members  to engage i n the meetings that would be 
conven ed later that day. He then  made a few specific points  in that regard . First, the facilitators 
were there to facilitate thei r work – not to drive it. Their role would be to support and facilitate 
Members'  conversations and to report any developments to the full Membership – not more. 
Members would remain the driving force on the substance. The politic al calls and the decisions 
should therefore come from them.  Second, openness would  remain an essentia l element. The 
facilitators would  aim to hold open meetin gs so that any and all Members  who wish ed to 
participate would  have a chance to do so. Third, he and the Chairperson would be  convening 
Informal Heads of Delegation meetings in the evening to allow the facilitators to rep ort back to 
them on all of their cons ultations. Those meetings would  also be an opportunity for every Minister 
to engage on every issue and to take required decisions. F ourth, the expectation was that  all tho se 
meetings – both the facilitators' meetings and the Informal HODs meetings – would  not be the WT/MIN(17)/SR/2  
 
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  moment for prepared statements. That was  what the Plen ary Sessions we re for . The facilitators ' 
meetings would be utilized to engage on the detail s of the particular issues and to see what 
progress could  be possible. They should be v ery interactive  working discussions that would lead to 
executive de cisions. The HODs  meetings in particular should be very focused and executive. They 
would  be an opportunity to take decisions on many potential outputs put forward by the 
facilitators. If Membe rs wanted a chance to make progress,  all of them had  the responsibility to be 
as efficient as possible. Adhering to those principles would expedite thei r work in the coming days. 
He and the Chairperson would  continue to reach  out to them  as needed  and woul d try to give as 
much notice as possible before calli ng any additional meeting. H e asked Members to be on stand -
by. His door remained  open to anyone wi shing to raise any issue with him . 
1.7.  The following statements were made:  
Singapore  H.E. Mr. Lim Hng Kiang  
Ministe r for Trade and Industry  
 WT/MIN(17 )/ST/1 
Switzerland  H.E. Mr. Johann N. Schneider -Ammann  
Federal Councillor, Head of the Federal 
Department of Economic Affairs  
  WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 107 
United States of America  Ambassador Robert Lighthizer  
United States Trade Representative  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 128 
Qatar H.E. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Jassim Al -Thani  
Minister of Economy and Commerce of the 
State of Qatar  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 2 
Mexico H.E. Mr. Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal  
Minister of the Economy  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 102 
Hong Kong,  China Mr. Edward Yau  
Secretary for C ommerce and Economic 
Development  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 3 
Chile H.E. Mr. Heraldo Muñoz  
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 103 
Nigeria  H.E. Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah  
Minister for Industry, Trade and 
Investment  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 4 
Indonesia  H.E. Mr. Enggartiasto Lukita  
Minister of Trade  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 5 
Kenya  H.E. Ms. Amina Chawahir Mohamed  
Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs  
  
Argentina  H.E. Mr. Jorge Marcelo Faurie  
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 6 
Turkey  Mr. Fatih Metin  
Deputy Minister  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 7 
China  H.E. Dr. Zhong Shan  
Minister of Commerce   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 127 
European Union  Ms. Cecilia M almström  
Commissioner for Trade  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 8 
South Africa  Dr. Robert Haydn Davies  
Minister of Trade and Industry  
  WT/MIN(17)/SR/2  
 
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  Japan  H.E. Mr. Hiroshige Seko  
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 110 
India H.E. Mr. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu  
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 9 
Colombia  H.E. Ms . María Lorena Gutiérrez  
Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 10 
Russian Federation  Mr. Maksim Oreshkin  
Minister of Economic Development of the 
Russian Federation  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 11 
Uruguay  H.E. Mr. Rodolfo Nin Novoa  
Minister of Foreign Trade  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/12/Rev.1  
Brazil  H.E. Mr. Aloysio Nunes Ferreira Filho  
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 13 
Australia  Mr. Steven Ciobo, MP  
Minister for Trade, Tourism and 
Investment  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 14 
Canada  
 H.E. Mr. François -Philippe Champagne  
Minister of International Trade  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 15 
Korea, Republic of  Mr. Kim Young Sam  
Deputy Minister for Trade and Investment   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 16 
Jamaica  Senator the Hon. Kamina Elizabeth 
Johnson Smith  
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign 
Trade   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 17 
Philippines  H.E. Mr. Ramon M. Lopez  
Secretary / Minister, Department of Trade 
and Industry  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 18 
Paraguay  H.E. Mr. Eladio Loizaga  
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 105 
Mali H.E. Mr. Abdel Karim Konate  
Minister of Trade, Government Spokesman  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 19 
Bangladesh  H.E. Mr. Tofail Ahmed  
Minister for Commerce   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 104 
Norway  Ms. Ine Eriksen Søreide  
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 20 
Pakistan  H.E. Mr. Mohammad Pervaiz Malik  
Minister for Commerce and Textile 
Industry  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 98 
International Trade 
Centre  
(IGO Observer)  Ms. Arancha González  
Executive Director  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/ 21 
 
1.8.  The meeting adjourned  at 1.25 p.m. 
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