WT/MIN(15)/ST/9
17 December 2015
(15-6698)  Page: 1/2
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MRS NIRMALA SITHARAMAN 
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 
INDIA 
It is an honor for me to participate in the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the WTO. I thank you, 
Madam Chairperson, the Government and the people  of Kenya, for the excellent arrangements and 
the warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation.  
This Ministerial coincides with the 20th anniversary of the organization and assumes special 
importance being the first WTO Ministerial taking place in Africa – a continent of promise.  
I warmly welcome the newly acceded members, Yemen, Seychelles and Kazakhstan. We also look 
forward to welcoming Afghanistan and Liberia to the WTO. These countries are valued friends of 
India and their accession to the WTO is an importan t affirmation of the strength of the multilateral 
trading system.  
 The expanding membership of the WTO, the func tioning of its unique dispute settlement system, 
the work in its regular Committees, the progress made thus far in the Doha Development Agenda 
(DDA), underscore the important role played by this great institution. India applauds the 
achievements of the WTO, and remains committed to strengthening it further.  
The 20th anniversary of the WTO is also an occasion for introspection and to assess where we are 
today.  
We have come to Nairobi with an open mind, determined to make this Conference a success for 
us, for Africa and for the world.  However, the situation could be more encouraging. The reform process which was started after the 
Uruguay Round in the form of the Doha Round appear s to be in jeopardy. Negotiations have spilled 
over into Nairobi, which makes matters very complicated. The manner and haste with which important negotiating meetings are being convened does not inspire confidence. 
 
The DDA may have run into obstacles but it is in our collective interest to continue to work on all pillars, keeping its development dimension intact. We are of the firm view that this Ministerial 
must clearly re-affirm the Doha Development Agenda and all Ministerial Declarations and Decisions 
taken since 2001 when we launched the Doha Round. These are all important. Let us not waste time negotiating which of these we should reaffirm and welcome.  
We must respect our negotiating mandates and wo rk within the established framework of the DDA 
and the tried and tested WTO principles.  
It is our duty to safeguard the legitimate inte rests of poor farmers and the food security of 
hundreds of millions in developing countries. We cannot continue with the rhetoric of a development agenda without even a reasonable attempt to address issues which are of primary 
concern to developing economies. For decades, a handful of farm lobbies of some countries have 
shaped the discourse and determined the destiny of millions of subsistence farmers of the developing countries. The reduction in the massive subsidization of the farm sector in developed countries which was the clear cut mandate of the DDA is now not even a subject matter of 
discussion today, leave aside serious negotiations. WT/MIN(15)/ST/9 
 
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  It is in recognition of these concerns that the G-33 has strongly argued the case for an effective 
special safeguard mechanism for developing countries and for changing the rules relating to public stockholding for food security purposes. These are not new issues. We are disappointed at the cavalier manner in which these issues are being pushed into the future. On the other hand, there 
is a sudden inexplicable zeal to harvest Export Competition. On this we are told that there is 
convergence when in fact, there appears to be little.  
It is regrettable that longstanding issues of interest to a large number of developing countries are 
being put aside for the future and new issues of recent vintage are being taken up with unusual enthusiasm.  
India welcomes a strong LDC package for adoption at this Ministerial but there is much more to be 
done to facilitate full integration of LDCs into world trade.  
India was the first developing country to extend du ty-free quota-free access to all LDCs in line with 
the Hong Kong ministerial mandate. Our scheme provides comprehensive coverage, including tariff lines of interest to our friends in the Cotton-4.  Moreover, our scheme is underpinned by simple, 
transparent and liberal rules of origin. India has recently made available substantial and 
commercially meaningful preferences in services to LDCs.  We are gathered here today in Africa, a land of opportunity and promise. There is no better place 
to resolve that we must and shall complete the DDA. We must provide a clear political direction for 
the post-Nairobi work.   
Agricultural reforms remain the corner stone of the DDA negotiations. We must deliver on all three 
pillars of the negotiations in a balanced manner. As the Hon. President of Kenya said yesterday, “the agriculture negotiations in the Doha Round are the ones from which developing countries can 
derive most gains…..Africa’s farmers simply canno t compete against heavily subsidized farmers in 
developed countries”.  The situation is no different in most other developing countries as far as the agriculture sector is 
concerned. 
 Services sector is equally important for developing countries for growth as well as job creation. 
Besides the accelerated flow of goods, easier flow of services is, therefore, equally important. The 
liberalization of services trade, particularly in Modes 1 and 4, needs to figure high on the development agenda. A special initiative on Services sector is needed. To achieve this, it is 
imperative to put in place a simple and transpar ent regulatory framework that encourages growth 
in the Services sectors.  An open, non-discriminatory and inclusive multilateral trading system contributes to maximizing 
gains for all its Members. Plurilateral approaches by definition impinge on the multilateral trading 
system and cannot be a substitute for it. It is important that such arrangements complement, and not segment, the multilateral trading system. 
 
I have taken careful note of calls by some members to commence work on “new issues” within the WTO. We should resist the temptation of overlo ading the WTO agenda at this stage with “new 
issues” when we are still grappling with the completion of work in the DDA. 
 As trade Ministers, history will judge us poorly if  the outcomes of the DDA perpetuate inequities in 
global trade. It is vital to keep the aspirations of millions of people living in the developing world in 
clear focus. India is prepared to constructively contribute in all areas within the framework of the 
negotiating mandates and the core principles of the WTO. We must act with a sense of common purpose and urgency. As we commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the WTO, let us reaffirm the 
DDA and resolve to conclude it in a spirit of mutual accommodation and goodwill. 
 
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