WT/MIN(17)/ST/56  
15 December 2017  
(17-6989) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires , 10-13 December 2017  Original: French  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR  SOULEYMANE DIARRASSO UBA 
MINISTER OF COMMERCE , CRAFTS AND SME PRO MOTION  
CÔTE D'IVOIRE 
It is my hope  that our Organization will emerge from Buenos Aires a stronger institution capable of 
offering its Members more reassuring prospects and delivering decisive advances  in the trade 
liberalization process.   
On behalf of the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, I wish to thank the Argentine authorities for their 
warm welcome and for all the facilities that have enabled  us to take part in this meeting at such a 
critical time in the history of our Organization.  
I also take this opportunity , on behalf His Excellency Mr Alassane Ouattara, President of the 
Republic of Côte d'Ivoire,  to reiterate the appreciation of the Ivorian Government and people to 
the WTO Member delegations for their massive attendance at  the Africa -EU Summit that 
Côte d'Ivoire recently had the honour to host in Abidjan.  
The Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference is t aking place in an international environment 
increasingly marked by creeping protectionism, the implicit questioning of the development of 
global value chains, the challenges of insufficient employment worldwide , and the resurgence of 
plurilateral  agreements, all of which further marginalize developing economies and create 
increasingly complex barriers.  
Against this backdrop , the Conference offers the Ivorian Government a key platform to reaffirm 
the need to restore the primacy and priority of mult ilateralism and the WTO in order to ensure an 
overall balance in terms of economic governance, market access and equity in the settlement of 
trade disputes.  
Côte d'Ivoire reiterates its preference for a consensus -based approach to decision  making, which 
allows the weakest economies  to make an effective contribution to  developing the rules of the 
multilateral trading system aimed at regulat ing the goods and services markets , the governance of 
which lies with the WTO , with a view to more inclusive participati on by all in global trade as a 
source of development.  
Côte d'Ivoire reaffirms  its commitment to completion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) . To 
that end, it urges an  overall evaluation of the DDA under paragraph 47 of the Declaration.  
In this context, all the agreed issues should be given the same attention and level of ambition, as 
specified in the Doha Declaration of November 2001.  
 
In Agriculture, whatever solution may be reached will have to  promote fair agricultural trade 
through disciplines centred on  reducing all types of trade -distorting subsid y and the removal of 
non-tariff barriers that impede access of agricultural products to developing and developed country 
markets.  
 
More specifically, from Côte d'Ivoire's standpoint the cotton issue d eserves more attention and 
consideration than ever.  WT/MIN(17)/ST/56  
 
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  Indeed, the importance of cotton for the economies of developing countries in general and African 
countries in particular calls for  a definitive solution to the issue , building upon the achievements 
contained in the various decisions adopted by previous Ministerial Conferences.  
 
As regards trade in services, liberalization should be based on the provisions of Article 19 of the 
GATS. Consideration of the issue of domestic regulation should on no account deny government 
authorities the right to introduce the disciplines needed to achieve their development goals.  
 
For Côte d'Ivoire, the development dimension, which is anchored in the notion of special and 
differential treatment, should be an integral part of all WTO Agreements and the relevant 
provisions should be made more binding, more operational and more effecti ve, in accordance with 
the letter and spirit of paragraph 44 of the Doha mandate.  
This is in fact the whole purpose of Section II of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, whose effective 
implementation with support in the form of technical and financial assistance  is required for 
Category C capacity building , which has already been notified by Côte d'Ivoire.  
In line with the above , the constant pursuit of efficient implementation of the Aid -for-Trade 
initiative could constitute an appropriate response to the supply -side constraints and trade -related 
infrastructure requirements facing the developing countries.  
 
Turning to the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, Côte d'Ivoire calls for an evaluation of 
the implementation of the programme, emphasizing the need for it to continue within an 
appropriate framework that provid es an overall view of all relevant aspects. The challenges facing 
the developing countries and those on the African continent  in particular  in terms of digital divide 
and connectivity, infrastructure and related issues will have to be addressed . 
 
The negotiations  on fisheries subsidies should take appropriate account of the concerns of the 
developing countries and LDCs in respect of special and differential treatment and of  their needs in 
terms of policy space for the development of  fisheries activities in inland waters and exclusive 
economic zones.  
The issue of micro, small and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs) should be assessed in order to 
identify the flexibilities requi red to increase the contribution of MSMEs in developing the economies 
of countries that need them most.  
Côte d'Ivoire endorses the statements made by the African and ACP Groups  and expresses support 
for the women's empowerment programme initiated by the I nternational Trade Centre (ITC).  
In view of the importance and diversity of the issues before us , I see the need to establish a 
post-Buenos Aires work programme to address any issues that remain unresolved at this 
Ministerial Conference , if we are to reach mutually advantageous and satisfactory conclusions  as 
soon as possible.  
In short, the Eleventh Ministerial Conference will have to reinforce  the primacy of the multilateral 
trading system, the centrality of development in the rules that regulat e the system , and the 
governance of the WTO by its Members in order to promote inclusive trade , as the key to  
development for all.  
 
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