WT/MIN(13)/ST/60  
5 December 2013  
(13-6728)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY MR DRAGOMIR STOYNEV  
MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND ENERGY 
BULGARIA  
On behalf of the Bulgarian Government I would like to extend our gratitude to the Indonesian 
authorities for their warm hospitality and for all the efforts and excellent arrangements, which have made the meeting in Bali possible. Let me also avail of this opportunity to thank the WTO 
Secretariat, Director General Roberto Azevêdo, facilitators and collaborators for their hard work 
and dedication towards turning this Ministerial conference into success. 
 It is our pleasure to welcome wholeheartedly Lao, Tajikistan and Yemen as fully fledged Members 
of the organization. We sincerely hope that they would be able to participate in the multilateral 
trading system in a way that would allow th em to reap benefits from global trade. 
 
At this crucial phase of the negotiations all participants should take the responsibility and try to 
overcome the remaining difficulties in order to arrive at landing zones that will ensure the adoption of a meaningful Bali package. Such an outcome is essential in demonstrating that the multilateral trading system is still viable, that WTO remains a forum for trade negotiations and that progress in 
the stalled Doha Round is doable.  
 As a Member State of the European Union, Bulgaria supports the active and constructive approach 
of the EU to these negotiations and shares its commitment and determination to a positive Bali 
outcome.   
We have before us a package on a limited number of DDA issues that would benefit everyone - not 
only developed, but mainly developing and least developed Members.  Bulgaria supports the substantial development component that we aim to adopt at this Ministerial 
conference. Moreover, all issues under consideration contain important development deliverables.  
On trade facilitation - the draft agreement we have today is our common agenda, and it is not an agreement among developed WTO members only. It for еsees considerable flexibilities for 
developing countries in terms of implementation. These flexibilities and assistance are to be used 
by those Members that actually need them. Th e conclusion of the agreement ensures more 
efﬁcient border controls, quicker and easier movement of goods by expediting and simplifying their 
release and clearance, as well as reduced transa ction costs and transparent business environment. 
The existing and future bilateral road transit ag reements will remain a necessary element of the 
contemporary inter-governmental relations which complement the provisions of GATT 1994. They are a legitimate tool for safeguarding environmental and other public concerns. 
 WT/MIN(13)/ST/60 
 
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  Bulgaria stands ready to support an agriculture component that bears in mind the progress 
reached in other areas of the negotiations and the ov erall balance at MC9. Deliverables in this area 
must address the most pressing concerns of developing countries. It is clear that any attempt to bring into the discussion an ambitious outcome on key agriculture issues that have remained 
unresolved for years would simply block our work and undermine the credible results that we are 
aiming at. The political declaration on export competition should prescribe the same level of ambition for all forms of export subsidies an d export measures with equivalent effect. 
Fundamentally, the main agriculture issues can only be resolved as part of a final outcome of the 
Doha Development Agenda.  L a s t  b u t  n o t  l e a s t ,  a  p o s t - M C 9  d i m e n s i o n  o f  o u r  w o r k  o n  t h e  D D A  a g e n d a  w i l l  b e  a n  e s s e n t i a l  
element of a successful outcome of this conference.  
 
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