WT/MIN(13)/ST/117  
12 February 2014  
(14-0847)  Page: 1/1  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: Spanish  
 
  STATEMENT BY H.E. MR FEDERICO GONZÁLEZ 
VICE-MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND INTEGRATION 
PARAGUAY  
I would first of all like to extend sincere thanks to the Government of Indonesia for its hospitality 
and impeccable organization of this important event. I also wish to express my special 
appreciation to Director-General Roberto Azevêdo for his leadership of the negotiating process over the past few months. 
Paraguay is confident and firmly committed to work  and support all lines of action that will make 
the WTO the main multilateral trade negotiation forum, consistently based on the building of fair, clear and predictable rules. We believe that the texts arrived at in recent months have brought 
us closer to achieving this objective, namely that of a WTO relevant for our purposes. 
As regards the Bali package, I am deeply concer ned because we have not yet reached a consensus 
on the central issues for this Conference, which are of critical interest to my country. As you know, 
Mr Chairman, Paraguay is a landlocked developing country with an economy chiefly based 
on agriculture. My delegation has therefore seriously and responsibly engaged in the discussions on the three negotiating pillars, in which it seeks concrete results that will have a direct impact on its economic performance without adversely affecting the other Members. 
In order to offset the difficulties and disadvan tages of being a landlocked country, Paraguay 
strongly advocates the conclusion of a Trade Facilitation Agreement containing binding commitments and providing for speedy implementation, mainly as regards transit matters. 
Very important areas of consensus have been reached to date, which allows us to optimistically 
estimate that progress is being made towards a real  GATT PLUS in this respect. For the landlocked 
developing countries, freedom of transit is not only a question of commercial interest, but also 
and foremost a matter of survival. I would therefore kindly urge all of you to take these aspects 
into account in our negotiations. 
As a food-exporting country that plays a major role in the global market for certain products, 
my delegation fully endorses the statements of the Cairns Group and the G-20. Although 
no binding commitments have as yet been made with a view to this Ministerial, Paraguay 
is confident that the tendency to reduce export subsidy mechanisms and instruments will continue. 
My country maintains that adaptation of the rules governing agricultural trade must ensure 
the predictability of trade and widen employme nt opportunities for rural populations through 
international trade and the elimination of distorting measures. 
Lastly, my delegation is most interested in building up a post-Bali agenda essentially geared 
towards progress in concluding the Doha Development Agenda. In this connection, I should 
emphasize a number of outstanding tasks such as those relating to market access for agricultural products and the inclusion of other issues that directly affect our economies and should be given in-depth consideration in this organization. 
 
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