WT/MIN(13)/ST/85  
5 December 2013  
(13-6759) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Ninth  Session  
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English  
 
STAT EMENT BY H.E. DR JÁN OS MARTONYI  
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS  
HUNGARY  
On behalf of the government of Hungary let me express my most sincere appreciation to the 
government of Indonesia for the k ind hospitality and excellent wo rking con ditions  created in B ali 
for this Ministerial Conference.  
 
Hungary is fully committed to the multilateral trading system and has a vested interest in the 
success of the WTO. This is natural, our relatively small economy is very open, demonstrated by 
the fact that the share of exported goods and services is growing and has reached 95% of our 
GDP. 
 
We find it regrettable that the WTO’s negotiating machinery has stumbled through the last decade. 
We have collectively failed to deliver on the bulk of the Doha Development Agenda and missed out 
on reaping the benefits that multilateral trade liberalisation can offer. We witness a visible shift 
towards bilateral preferential agreements and plurilateral initiatives. These are symptoms that 
need to be analysed in order that the underlying  reasons are identified and approaches are 
developed that can make progress in the WTO possible.  
 
In our view, at the heart of this challenge is the fact that the WTO have not been able to 
adequately reflect in its rules and activities the recent dramatic  changes in the power lines of the 
world economy. Hungary welcomes the clear emergence of trading partners that resulted in 
marked changes in the relative competitiveness of WTO Members and further amplified the 
diversity and differences existing in the de veloping world. We are afraid that unless ways to 
translate these changes into differentiated expectations regarding market opening and available 
flexibilities under WTO rules are found, moving forward the multilateral negotiating agenda may 
remain very di fficult.  
 
In addition to ensuring that the WTO reflects the interests and individual circumstances of all its 
Members, it should also remain relevant for business. The longer negotiations on the DDA take, 
the higher the risk that our efforts become out of  touch with economic realities. In our view, as 
part of the post Bali agenda we have to seriously look into the possibility of starting to address 
issues  that our companies have identified, such as export restrictions and taxes, export financing, 
energy an d investments.  
 
Hungary hopes that by finalising the Bali package we will move in the right direction in addressing 
these challenges. The central element, trade facilitation, offers benefits to all and addresses bread 
and butter problems of business actor s. We seek commitments of high ambition because these will 
lead to more benefits. At the same time, as the EU statement stressed, assistance for the 
implementation by LDCs and other developing countries most in need must and will be made 
available. On the other hand, we expect emerging partners to announce already in Bali their 
intention to implement the agreement quickly, in full and without requiring financial or technical 
assistance. Tackling trade facilitation in a satisfactory manner will open the door  to the acceptance 
of decisions in the field of development and agriculture.  
 WT/MIN(13)/ST/85  
 
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  Let me finish by recalling that, indeed, it was exactly 40 years ago when my country joined the 
GATT. Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the start of the systemic politica l and economic 
changes in Hungary. We have learned from our own experience that becoming part of the 
multilateral trading system is a powerful vehicle to prompt and anchor market based reforms no 
matter how difficult and lengthy they may be. This is why we  attach particular importance to WTO 
accessions.  
 
We welcome Yemen as the 160th Member of our organisation. We strongly support the prompt 
completion of accession negotiations that are in their final stage, including with Serbia, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina as  well as LDCs.  
 
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