WT/MIN(15)/ST/21  
18 December 2015  
(15-6734) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Tenth  Session  
Nairobi , 15-18 December 20 15 Original: English  
 
 STATEMENT BY H.E. MR  TAREK KABIL  
MINISTER FOR TRADE A ND INDUSTRY  
EGYPT 
It gives me great pleasure to participate for the first time at the WTO Ministerial Conference. And I 
am proud it being held for the first time in Africa; in the brotherly country Kenya , to whom we 
express our gratitude for hosting this Conference, and for the warm welcome and hospitality we 
received from the people and government of Kenya since our arrival.  
 
The last ministerial meeting on African soil was the one held in Marrakesh, Mo rocco in April 1994, 
to establish the World Trade Organization. Since the signing of the Marrakesh Agreement, the 
multilateral trading system has come a long way. It is timely that we meet again in Africa to 
celebrate twenty years of hard work in pursuing our vision of a rule -based multilateral trading 
system that promotes the growth and development of all its Members.  
 
As you may well know, Egypt has been experiencing political transition and economic 
transformation that posed several challenges, leading to the current situation where Egypt’s 
economy is poised to launch into a new phase of growth and development during which Trade and 
Investment Policies will take a centred stage.  
 
As a market economy, Egypt’s policy orientation is clear. The creation of a  competitive 
environment hospitable to productive foreign investment and generating employment 
opportunities, is a priority for the leadership and government. This also highlights the importance 
of the WTO’s rule -based system for Egypt’s trade and investme nt. 
  
In addition, with the recent conclusion of the parliamentary elections, Egypt’s new Parliament will 
soon be in a position to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement among other agreements in the 
pipeline.  
 
The track record of the WTO over the past tw enty years has been solid, to say the least, across all 
those functions except one. The negotiating function has obviously not been advancing very well 
and reached a point today where it became the biggest institutional challenge facing the WTO.  
 
Our bigge st and most important question today, is how can we make the negotiating arm of the 
WTO operational once more. Our determination in establishing this system envisioned the WTO as 
a forum for continuing negotiations aiming at serving the interest of all its  Members. Today, 
unfortunately, the reality is that this function has not performed anywhere close to our aspirations.  
 
Having said so, the vision of Egypt encompasses the following:  
 
- The Doha Work Programme was conceived to serve our negotiating objecti ves and to deal 
with our priority issues as developing countries.  
 
- Most of those issues are still outstanding, and what we really care about is addressing the 
issues and resolving them through satisfactory outcomes according to our priorities and the 
collective will of the Organization membership.  
 
- In other words, the issues under the Doha Work Programme will not go away and sooner or 
later, will have to be taken up.  WT/MIN(15)/ST/21  
 
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- More importantly, the integration of the development component in trade governance i s not 
just associated with the Doha Work Programme, but it is there to stay.  
 
- Outcomes of trade negotiations must provide the policy space for economic diversification 
for industrialisation.  
 
- Important principles, such as Special and Differential Treat ment for developing countries, as 
well as Less than Full reciprocity, shall remain the overarching principles in trade 
liberalization.  
 
We wish the Conference every success.  
 
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