WT/MIN (17)/ 44 
 
11 December 2017  
(17-6819) Page: 1/3 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  
 Original: English  
 
LANDLOCKED DEVELOPIN G COUNTRIES1 DECLARATION   
BUENOS AIRES 2017  
 
The following communication, dated 1 1 December 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).  
 
_______________  
 
 
We, the Ministers of the landlocked developing countries  (LLDCs), having met in Buenos Aires, 
Argentina, on 10 December 2017, during the eleventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
Organization,  
Recalling  the Vienna Declaration and the Vienna Programme of A ction for Landlocked Developing 
Countries for the Decade 2014 –2024 adopted at the Second United Nations Conference on 
Landlocked Developing Countries,  
Recalling  the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals 
(SDGs), aimed  inter alia at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2030, and in particular, 
Goals 7, 9 and 10 (relating to affordable and clean energy; industry, innovation and infrastructure; 
and reduced inequalities),  
Recalling  and reaffirming the objectives and principles of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing 
the World Trade Organization,  
Reaffirming  the preeminence of WTO as global trade rule making body and the need to 
reinvigorate and strengthen its negotiating function,  
Recalling  the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of LLDCs at the margin of the 10th Ministerial 
Conference of the WTO on 16th December 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya, where the Ministers of 
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), reiterated the strong commitment of the Group of 
LLDCs to the Multilateral Trading System, especially in the framework of the negotiations of the 
Doha Development Agenda,  
Recalling  the Geneva Ministerial Declaration adopted at the Fifth Meeting of Trade Ministers of 
Landlocked Developing Cou ntries which aimed at Harnessing the trade potential of the LLDCs to 
accelerate the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development,  
                                                
1 Afghanistan; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bhutan; Bolivia, Plurinational  State Of; Botswana; Burkina Faso; 
Burundi; Central African Republic;  Chad; Ethiopia; Lesotho; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao People's 
Democratic Republic; Malawi; Mali; Moldova, Republic Of; Mongolia; Nepal; Niger; Paraguay; Rwanda; 
Swaziland; Tajikista n; The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia; Uganda; Uzbekistan; Zambia; Zimbabwe; 
This list include 30 of 32 LLDC, 26 being WTO members and 4 are currently observers in accession process . WT/MIN (17)/44 
 
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  Have adopted the following Ministerial Declaration  
1.  We underscore the impor tance of international trade as an engine for inclusive economic 
growth and poverty reduction, and an important means to achieve the Sustainable Development 
Goals, as recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action 
Agenda, 
2.  We recognize the need to “promote a universal, rules -based, open, non -discriminatory and 
equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the 
conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda” to ac hieve the SDGs as stated in 
Goal 17.10.  We will also seek to promote the concepts of fairness and inclusiveness,  
3.  We underscore central role of Development in the WTO and that the principle of Special and 
Differential (S&D) treatment represents the corner stones of the WTO Agreements and that the 
reaffirmation of this principle should be an integral part of any package and of the works of this 
organization,  
4.  We underline the importance of addressing the trade -related challenges of the LLDCs that 
includes red ucing trade costs at the border, between borders and behind borders, and addressing 
other supply -side constraints in order to increase the LLDCs’ trade competitiveness; improving the 
market access for their products; and enhancing structural transformation  and industrialization in 
order to help diversify their products and markets,  
5.  We recall that our lack of access to the sea presents a set of challenges particular to our group 
of countries. Above all, it often results in transportation costs that are highe r than average, which 
drives up the cost of exporting and importing goods. In addition, the lack of coastlines implies a 
dependence on neighboring countries for transit, which can have a significant negative impact on 
trade if political relations are strai ned or infrastructure in the transit country is weak. In that 
regards, we stress that LLDCs must be provided with unfettered access to the nearest port/s for 
their regular trade transactions through the territory of transit neighboring country/countries 
without any hindrances,  
6.  We welcome the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. We urge members to 
continue to provide technical, financial and capacity building assistance to LLDCs, on a sustainable 
basis, for the effective implementation of th e Agreement. We also call upon the constructive 
cooperation of transit countries for the effective and early application of disciplines that contribute 
to reducing transit time and costs, simplifying procedures and enhancing certainty in cross -border 
trade , 
7.  We recognize that co -operation between landlocked developing countries and transit countries 
to ease the flow of goods is of mutual benefit and efforts should be made by both groups as well 
as development partners to strengthen transit transport systems,  
8.  We emphasize that Agriculture is of critical importance to the LLDCs economies. The 
continuation of the reform process in order to promote market access; reduction of distortive 
domestic support measures, especially in developed countries; the total elimin ation of all forms of 
export subsidies; and the promotion of fair rules for the cotton -sector will constitute an important 
tool for the promotion of economic activities and food security in developing countries,  
9.  We reiterate our support to the Sectorial In itiative in favour of Cotton (C4) related to the 
ambitious reduction of the agricultural domestic support that distorts the international cotton 
market. We urge members to implement all the Ministerial decision on cotton related: market 
access, domestic su pport, export competition and development,  
10.  We underline that the development and maintenance of transit transport and information and 
communications technology infrastructure are crucial for landlocked developing countries in order 
to reduce high trading c osts, improve their competitiveness and become fully integrated in the 
global market;  Comprehensive, coherent and coordinated policies are needed at all levels in the 
areas of promotion of foreign direct investment; infrastructural development, and logist ics towards 
mitigating the adverse development impact of landlockedness,  WT/MIN (17)/44 
 
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  11.  We reaffirm our commitment to intensify our efforts to build productive capacities, pursue 
structural economic transformation, industrialization and encourage export diversification. In doing 
so, we will lay the foundations for poverty eradication, employment generation and inclusive 
economic growth,  
12.  We also recall that there is a need for concerted measures and actions to support LLDCs’ 
efforts to reduce commodity dependence, includin g through the diversification of their export base, 
and enhanced processing of the commodities,  
13.  We recognize the growing role of the services sector in modern economies, in particular, the 
importance of the tourism sector, finance and ICT, and that an effi cient and productive services 
industry will contribute significantly to productivity growth and for the overall competitiveness of 
landlocked developing countries’ economies. In that regard, we affirm our commitment to develop 
the service sector with the v iew to addressing supply side constraints, and call on international 
organizations to support landlocked developing countries to develop their services sectors,  
14.  We also urge Members to take into account the special needs and problems caused by the 
geographical disadvantage of being landlocked that during the accession process of LLDCs to the 
WTO. As such, the accession process for LLDCs should be further simplified and these countries 
should be provided with adequate technical and financial assistan ce, 
15.  We recall the significant contribution made by the LLDCs that acceded under Article XII of the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO, which strengthen the multilateral trading system. For 
a balanced outcome of trade liberalization negotiations, we s tress the need to consider the 
extensive commitments undertaken by the Article XII Members upon their accession to the WTO,  
16.  We welcome the entry into force of the Multilateral Agreement on the establishment of the 
International Think Tank for the LLDCs th at brings the Think Tank into full operation. We invite the 
Office of the High Representative and relevant organizations of the United Nations system, 
Member States, including development partners, and relevant international and regional 
organizations to s upport the think tank, as it has started playing an important role in enhancing 
the analytical capability of LLDCs and provide home -grown research to cater for our specific needs.  
We urge those LLDCs, which have not done so, to ratify the agreement,  
17.  We co mmit to strengthen the works of the LLDC group in Geneva, in order to maintain regular 
meetings, share experiences and seek for enhanced capacity building for LLDC, in the main areas 
of work of the World Trade Organization: monitoring, rules making and dis pute and settlement. 
This effort should allow the Group to enhancing our role and establishing work plan,  
18.  We express our gratitude to the substantive support and financial contribution of the World 
Trade Organization Secretariat and the Office of the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and 
SIDS to the Meeting,  
19.  We express our sincere appreciation to the government of Argentina and its people for their 
warm hospitality and for hosting the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires successfully.  
 
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