WT/MIN(17)/ST/39  
18 December 2017  
(17-7054) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires , 10-13 December 2017  Original: Spanish  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR  HUGO FCO. RIVERA FER NÁNDEZ  
DEPUTY FOREIGN MINIS TER FOR ECONOMIC AFF AIRS  
AND INTERNATIONAL COOPER ATION  
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  
On behalf of the Dominican Republic, President Danilo Medina, Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas and 
my delegation, I thank the Argentine Government for its hospitality and congratulate it on the 
excellent organization of this Eleventh Ministerial Conference.  
As a Contracting Party  to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade since 1950  and a founding 
Member of the WTO, the Dominican Republic recognize s the significance of the multilateral trading 
system and the importance of transparent and equitable trade re lations.  
However, changes on the world stage are giving  rise to new challenges that must be addressed 
under the Doha Round agenda. These include the importance of intensifying the negotiations on 
the Agreement on Agriculture, under which progress in contro lling measures that distort  global  
agricultural trade is of particular interest to our country.  
In the Dominican Republic,  as in other countries, more than 70% of agricultural producers are 
small  farmers who  are vulnerable to economic and climatic conditio ns on account of the constant 
hurricanes, floods and drought that plague the Caribbean  region . The continued existence of 
distortions in agricultural trade jeopardizes the sustainability of our producers, the environment 
and social stability in our countries.  
In our view it is important that agreement be reached under the Doha Round agenda to eliminate 
fisheries subsidies that encourage indi scriminate and illegal fishing.  
We also call for a strengthening of the regulatory system and for moving the ap pointments for the 
Appellate Body vacancies forward.  
As to the Dominican Republic, the country's economic growth has been one of the soundest in 
Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the past 20 years, it has averaged over 5%, one of the 
highest in the reg ion according to the World Bank.  
The Dominican Republic believes in trade liberalization, and we therefore wish to reiterate the 
need to conclude the Doha round of negotiations.  
Our aim is that the agreements should preserve special and differential treatm ent for the 
developing countries, establish a special agricultural safeguard mechanism and adopt a permanent 
solution for public stockholding programmes for food security purposes in developing countries.  
We have been working hard with a view to launching a work programme on small and 
medium -sized enterprises at the WTO, seeking measures that would  benefit MSMEs in 
international trade. In the Dominican Republic, micro, small and medium -sized enterprises account 
for more than 38% of GDP  and have  created over two million jobs; 51% of these small enterprises 
are run by women.  WT/MIN(17)/ST/39  
 
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  Lastly, the Dominican Republic will continue working to preserve a fair multilateral trading system 
that promotes the sustainable development of our peoples and paves the way towards a bet ter 
world.  
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