WT/MIN(17)/ST/62  
 
15 December 2017  
(17-6995) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY MRS. ROLINE LESINES TEKON  
ACTING DIRECTOR GENERAL,  MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS  
VANUATU  
It is with much pleasure that Vanuatu is able to make this statement at a Ministerial Conference 
since we became a member six years ago.   
 
Like all countries, Vanuatu depends significantly on international trade in goods and services for its 
economic deve lopment and to improve the standard of living of its people.  As a small country and 
after suffering from haphazard trade disciplines, we joined the WTO for the rules -based 
multilateral trading system that we saw as being able to be responsive to the aspir ations of small 
and vulnerable economies and least -developed countries by continuing to provide a robust 
platform which would enable them to expand and diversify their economies and use trade as an 
engine of economic growth and sustainable development.   T he rules -based multilateral trading 
system is a force for good that would help all of us to use trade to alleviate poverty and attain 
economic development.   
 
Last night at the Heads of Delegation briefing, I listened with much trepidation as it was, and i s, 
evident today that arriving at a Ministerial outcome is a hard ask.  That is the bad news.  The good 
news is that as a family of trading nations, most of us, including Vanuatu, support calls to ensure 
that MC11 is a success and we must all exercise flex ibility in the various issues to ensure there is a 
Ministerial outcome.   We call on all countries to support our hopes and aspirations which must not 
be undermined by the continued inflexibility in the positions of the key trading nations.    
  
The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference here in Buenos Aries holds a special significance for Pacific 
WTO Members.   We face unique challenges including small nations surrounded by enormous seas, 
geographical isolation and vast distances from major markets, environmenta l challenges from 
climate change and rising sea levels and the smallness of our economies.  The sea and ocean that 
surrounds Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands teem with fisheries resources that we consume and 
trade.  But like our countries which face the neg ative effect of climate change, our fisheries 
resources are also at risk with illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, bigger countries who 
overfish in our waters and larger countries who come into our seas and ocean with fishing vessels 
large capacit y that pose unsustainable harvest of our fishes.  
 
Vanuatu c alls upon all WTO Members to intensify their efforts to reach agreement on the Fisheries 
disciplines in Buenos Aries - which is crucial for our small and vulnerable economies of the Pacific.  
 
We also expect that at this meeting, to support with other WTO Members an agreement on a post 
Buenos Aries Work Programme which will give high priority to issues of utmost importance to SVEs 
and LDCs across all the negotiating areas.   
 
We urge the developed country Members to support a Work Programme that addresses the 
particular structural disadvantages and inherent vulnerabilities of SVEs and LDCs in a holistic 
manner.  The commitments that would emerge from the negotiations will be crucial in determining 
whether or not we should continue to place our confidence in the multilateral trading system.    
 
We reaffirm the importance of Aid for Trade, and more particularly, the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework (EIF), for developing and strengthening the productive ca pacity and economic WT/MIN(17)/ST/62  
 
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  infrastructure of LDCs. We call on our development partners to positively support the extension of 
the trade development programme post 2017.  
 
We must send a powerful signal from this Conference that the WTO is very much alive by adopting 
a Buenos Aries agreement.  We, WTO members must continue to see the bigger picture and not 
focus on our own small and narrow interests.  The multilateral trading system has contributed 
greatly to the expansion of the global economy and it is our d uty to do whatever is necessary at 
this meeting to adopt a future package and fulfil the aspirations of SVEs and LDCs.  
 
We thank the President and the people of Argentina for their warm hospitality and excellent 
organisation and facilitation of this Confer ence.  We recognise Madame Chair and the Director 
General of the WTO and would also like to thank them both for their substantive and transparent 
approach in the negotiations thus far and hope that this process will continue and we look forward 
to working with all WTO Members arrive at constructive outcomes that will promote and 
strengthen this multilateral trading system in the coming years.    
 
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