WT/MIN(15)/ST/92  
21 December 2015  
(15-6819)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR GEROGIOS LAKKOTRYPIS 
MINISTER FOR ENERGY, COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND TOURISM 
CYPRUS 
It is a great pleasure and an honour to have the opportunity to address, on behalf of Cyprus, the 
plenary of the tenth session of the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference.  First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the host of the Conference, the Government of 
Kenya, for the impeccable organisation here in Nairobi. 
 2015 is an important year for the WTO, as it celebrates its 20
th anniversary and is truly a pleasure 
to see this Organisation getting bigger and celebrating its 20 years in the best way possible, with 
the first WTO ministerial conference in Africa.   
On this occasion, we would like to congratulate the newest members of the WTO, Liberia and 
Afghanistan, for their accession to the Organisation. This year the WTO registered historic and strong progress on accessions. Apart from Kazakhstan and Seychelles, the two LDCs’ accessions of Liberia and Afghanistan, were concluded. We are pleased to welcome into our family members 
from the less economically developed countries of the world, as this will strengthen the WTO and 
advance its strategic objectives.  
Two years ago, during the 9
th WTO Ministerial in Bali, Cyprus, like several other countries in 
Europe and in the rest of the world, had been affected by the persisting negative world economic climate. Today, Cyprus’ collective perseverance to stick to an adjustment programme has helped 
the country come out of recession. August 2015 officially marked the end of the recession in 
Cyprus, less than three years after it was bailed out by its international lenders. The latest statistical reports revealed that Cyprus recorded 1.0% positive economic growth for two consecutive quarters of 2015, thus exceeding the original 0.4% growth projections. Moreover, 
further projections show that 2015 will end in real growth. 
 Over the longer term, and based on Cyprus’ expe rience, trade could be used to achieve growth, 
higher living standards, higher employment levels and sustainable development. In effect, it can 
help a country to recover relatively easier an d faster from an adverse economic situation. 
Therefore it is crucial for all of us to work together to progress the WTO post-Nairobi program, 
having in mind its beneficial results.  
 We note the necessity, here in Nairobi, to reach a balanced package and to set the foundations on 
which to build the future of WTO. International trade since 2001 has changed considerably. 
Nowadays, bilateral and regional trade preferential agreements, new technologies, and new high-
technology products, are the driving force behind international trade. In addition, new issues have emerged such as global value chains, digital agenda  and e-commerce, just to name a few, and it is 
necessary for all of us to work together to progress the reform process in order to address these 
issues.   
Our hope is that this WTO Ministerial Conference will be able to achieve outcomes on the central 
elements of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) that would allow the round to be concluded, although we acknowledge that under the current circumstances, this will not be easy. We have learned a lot from the previous Ministerial expe rience of Bali and the post-Bali agenda, which 
should help us to realise that it is time to take action and essential to redefine WTO priorities as WT/MIN(15)/ST/92 
 
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  clearly as possible. However, we must stress that prioritisation should be examined, taking into 
account the importance of maintaining a balance between the main pillars of the DDA issues.  It is obvious that WTO negotiations will have limited chances to succeed if we keep negotiating 
just for the sake of the negotiations. We believe that now is the time to move to solution-finding 
mode. The need for more jobs, growth and inve stment after a drawn-out and painful global 
recession, leaves no room for further delays. The examples of TFA, EGA and TiSA negotiations 
have proven that plurilateral negotiations initia tives are possible and have great potential. WTO 
should maintain its central role in the multilateral system and, therefore, any new initiatives or attempts to launch new negotiations at a plurilateral level should not undermine the central role of the Organisation. 
 
WTO is an institution born 20 years ago when the game-set for trade was completely different. Today, WTO needs to keep pace with the changes taking place in the world and needs to evolve in 
order to sustain and strengthen its central role in the building of global trade rules. 21
st century 
trade issues are pushing WTO to address the new and emerging realities and to adapt to this new world trading system. It is therefore in ou r hands, the members of the WTO, to work 
constructively and creatively to perform the institutional focused reforms needed in order to 
transform WTO into an operational, efficient and effective Organisation, ready to address the realities of 21
st century trade and to improve global and regional trading conditions.  
 
We welcome the advances made in DDA which have taken the negotiations one step forward. The 
strengthening of the multilateral trading system and the long-awaited conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda is important. Having this in mind, we aim to achieve a comprehensive and 
balanced outcome on the agriculture aspects of the Doha trade round, as part of the outcome of 
this Conference. We are ready and willing to suppor t positive results in Development, transparency 
and LDC-related issues, such as cotton, preferenti al rules of origin, services waiver, duty-free-
quota-free market access, fisheries and TRIPS waiver, as these are outcomes that would constitute 
valuable components of the development package and a gain for many WTO members, notably the developing and least developed countries.  
A positive outcome in Nairobi on the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the 
Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), would also be more than welcome. Both agreements are 
expected to contribute significantly to internat ional trade and to our economies – a development 
that is more necessary today than ever before. 
 We are certain that with the proper engagement , constructive approach and political will, we 
should be able to achieve a successful outcome at this Ministerial Meeting and leave Nairobi with 
the tools for economic growth and prosperity for our countries. At the same time, we will be able to strengthen the multilateral trading system and further secure the important role of WTO. 
 
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