WT/MIN(17)/69  
19 December 2017  
(17-7076) Page: 1/3 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh  Session  
Buenos Aires , 10-13 December 20 17 Original: English  
 
 
COMMUNIQUÉ - ARAB MINISTERIAL MEE TING  
BUENOS AIRES, 10 DEC EMBER 2017  
The following communication, dated 18 December 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Arab Group .  
 
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We, the Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the Arab Group, met on 10 December 2017 in 
Buenos Aires, Argentina on the occasion of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
Organization;  
 
We emphasize  the importance of WTO for the multilateral trading system, and its significant role 
to the establishment of inclusive and dynamic trade environment that could serve development 
and global economic growth;  
 
We acknowledge  that t rade and open markets are key drivers for growth and job creation and 
that strong commitments of trade rules is essential to ensuring global markets work properly;  
 
We realize  the need to meet the existing and future challenges presented by globalization a nd 
technological progress. We stress the need to continue to work together to address these 
challenges, building on the rules -based Multilateral Trading System;  
 
We confirm  our commitment to active participation in the WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference i n 
Buenos Aires/Argentina, and to work together with WTO members to make it a success;  
 
We reaffirm  the centrality of the development dimension to the multilateral trading system. The 
system must be responsive to the needs and realities of developing and le ast developed countries;  
 
We reaffirm  our commitment to implement the WTO Ministerial, and, General Council Decisions 
and Declarations adopted since 2001 until 2015, and underscore prioritizing outstanding issues in 
future negotiation.  
 
We recognize  the extensive commitments made by Article XII Members during their respective 
accessions, and the need to give full recognition and proper consideration to their special situation 
in the negotiations;  
 
We reaffirm  the importance of S&D provisions in the WTO agreements, and agree that all S&D 
provisions have to be reviewed with a view towards strengthening them and making them more 
precise, effective, and operational;  
 
We reaffirm  the flexibilities for developing countries as inscribed in the GATS, Negotia ting 
Guidelines and Procedures, and Reaffirm  that Members may decide on how to proceed on their 
own offers taking into account their particular development objectives and offers from other 
Members;  
 
We restate  that any outcome on GATS Article VI.4 discipli nes on domestic regulation does not 
involve implementation of new and/or onerous administrative requirements or requirements that 
intrude into the domestic -policy making processes;  WT/MIN(17)/69  
 
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  We call upon  the WTO Members to address the knowledge gap and the increasin g challenges 
facing Arab countries towards strengthening their domestic services capacity in all modes of 
supply;  
 
We stress  the importance of reaching an effective solution to address the imbalance in the 
Agreement on Agriculture and the food security ne eds of developing and least developed 
countries. We also emphasize on the need for addressing all outstanding issues in Agriculture 
negotiations;  
 
We recognize  the difficulties that Net -Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs) and LDCs 
continue to face  since the Uruguay Round, and stress on the importance of according specific 
measures and flexibilities to NFIDCs in all agriculture negotiations, to address their food security 
challenges.  
 
We acknowledge  the opportunities and challenges of the global el ectronic commerce and its 
huge impact on economic growth and sustainable development. We, therefore confirm the need to 
continue our future work based on the work program of 1998;  
 
We recognize  the important contribution of SMEs to economic growth and well -being, and in 
particular the contribution of start -ups and young firms to job creation and innovation. We also 
recognize the specific opportunities and challenges of globalization and digitalization for the 
development of these firms;  
 
We acknowledge  that accession to the WTO is a crucial step for countries striving for 
development and integration in world trade. Therefore, we urge  all WTO members to facilitate 
and accelerate the accession of Developing and Least Developed Countries including Arab 
Countrie s and we look forward to welcoming more new Members in the coming year;  
 
We emphasize  the importance of technical assistance and capacity building in enabling  
developing and least developed countries to engage effectively in the multilateral trading syste m 
and the global economy;  
 
We reaffirm  the support of the Arab League request for observer status in the Ministerial 
Conferences, councils, bodies and committees of the World Trade Organization;  
 
We reconfirm  the need to consider a set of revised objective  guidelines for granting observer 
status to all International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) in the WTO, as well as in the 
ministerial conferences. We strongly stress the importance of adopting such guidelines as soon as 
possible to allow for a more con clusive engagement of all IGOs in all WTO activities;  
 
We assert  our continued and unwavering support for the State of Palestine’s request for observer 
status in the General Council and its subsidiary bodies. While being mindful of the fact that the 
Govern ment of Palestine practices trade regulation in all areas covered by WTO law, we encourage 
Members to provide a favorable consideration to Palestine’s request for observer status at the 
General Council. In order to improve the legitimacy and inclusive natu re of the WTO, we are of the 
view that request for observer status cannot be denied on the basis of political considerations;  
 
We reiterate  the importance of recognizing the Arabic language as one of the official working 
languages in the WTO, as it is the case in the United Nations Organizations. Arabic is one of the 
most spoken native language in the world; accordingly the recognition of Ara bic as a WTO working 
language would facilitate the participation of governments of Arab States and would serve to 
promote awareness about the multilateral trading system in the Arab region;  
 
We urge  all Members to engage cooperatively and constructively in  the post -Buenos Aires work 
towards a successful conclusion of the ongoing negotiations;  
 
We regret  that even after enormous efforts members could not finalize a package for this 
conference. We recognize the divergences among Members on substantive issues  but also 
appreciate the significance of the work produced since the initiation of the negotiations. We urge 
members to intensify their efforts to articulate the way forward and the post – Buenos Aires work;  
 WT/MIN(17)/69  
 
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  We express  our sincere appreciation to the Gove rnment and people of Argentina for their 
hospitality and excellent work in hosting this Conference.  
 
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