WT/MIN(24)/ST/78  
26 February  2024 
(24-1579) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth Session  
Abu Dhabi, 26 -29 February 2024  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR MAXIM RESHETNIKOV  
MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT  
RUSSIAN FEDERATION  
The Membership has been working hard to reach this date, actively searching for points of consensus 
and building compromises.  
Our perseverance has brought us to the celebration of the long -awaited accession of Timor -Leste 
and the Union of Comoros to the WTO. We warmly welcome new Members.  
Gaveling the Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development by around 120 Members and 
the motion to incorporate this document into the WTO Rulebook demonstrates that we still can 
deliver on issues of great importance for global development.  
We also witness steady approaching solutions as regards the Services Domestic Regulation 
Disciplines and E-commerce which will contribute to the WTO reform. They will make the 
Organization more relevant and capable to address modern global challenges.  
However, we are a lot less optimistic in respect of the state of affairs in many other aspects of our 
WTO hou sehold.  
The WTO is being poisoned by persistent attempts by certain Members to politicize activities of its 
working bodies. Such Members circumvent WTO rules unleashing protectionism and prioritizing 
unilateralism. That can hardly be called a good example.  Such misbehavior undermines the global 
welfare and development prospects. It prevents us from advancing in the so needed WTO reform. 
It even spills out onto non -Member countries – with several accessions currently being affected. It 
has always been proudl y declared that the WTO is free of politics. However, the "fitness " to become 
a Member now depends on conformity with the political stance of some particular global players.  
International trade is vulnerable and faces a tangible risk of costly fragmentatio n. The world cannot 
afford this risk.  
However, we do have an unprecedented instrument in our hands to mitigate or even to revert this 
trend – the WTO itself.  
Its unique multilateral nature is of the highest value. Instead of following the fragmentation tre nds, 
it should lead to the strengthening of the MTS, make it truly inclusive and non -discriminatory, fair 
and responsive.  
The WTO should maintain a robust framework that allows all of us to be sure that the rules are 
obeyed, and not be silent witnesses to the rules merely falling apart. We should not give into 
temptation of thinking that the current state of the dispute settlement system is our new normal, 
especially when the right to appeal is abused by appealing into the void.  
There are multiple issues we  need to deal with. Some of them are long -standing and well known. 
Some of them, such as environmental challenges, we have been facing for a while now. And some 
of them we are about to face – including the bio -engineering and the Artificial Intelligence.  WT/MIN(24)/ST/78  
 
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  There might be a feeling that the wheels are spinning fast but the car is stuck. I do believe that we 
can make a collective push to put the WTO back on track. Otherwise the MTS that serves for the 
benefit of all will fall prey to the current  tensions.  
I hope that the Conference proves that the WTO is still capable and paves the way to our meaningful 
work beyond this event. Despite our differences we will all benefit from the WTO that is working 
hard rather than hardly working.  
Hopefully, the outstanding h ospitality of the United Arab Emirates will help us in this endeavor.  
Wish all of us a successful MC13.  
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