WT/MIN(17)/ST/64  
 
15 December 2017  
(17-6996) Page: 1/1 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. PETER ŽIGA  
MINISTER OF ECONOMY  
SLOVAK REPUBLIC  
Over the last two decades trade and technology played key role in economic growth and 
unprecedented economic changes. Rapidly growing shift towards information -driven global 
economy, new technologies and production practices brings new challenges to which we have to 
adjust and adapt.  
 
We also have to keep on our minds the impact that prospects for increased autom atization, use of 
industrial robots and artificial intelligence will have on future jobs and development of adequate 
education. Adjusting to economic changes is becoming a key policy challenge not only for 
governments around the world, but also for the mul tilateral trading system as well as the WTO as 
a key international organisation dedicated to trade.  
 
Slovakia, as a founding member of this organisation, and today as a  Member of the EU, has been 
traditionally supporting the WTO as a key global forum for t rade negotiations, for eliminating trade 
barriers, for establishing international trade rules, for monitoring trade flows and fair trade as well 
as for settling trade disputes.  
 
Stable, predictable and transparent multilateral trading system based on WTO r ules has always 
played an instrumental role for the development of the Slovak economy, which is highly dependent 
on foreign trade and access to raw materials and energy resources.  We therefore strongly believe 
that modernisation of WTO goals is crucial to maintain its prominent role and Slovakia supports 
many proposals going into the right direction, e.g. digital trade, domestic regulation in services, 
transparency and good regulatory practices concerning small and medium -sized enterprises and 
investment fa cilitation.  
 
However, today we are also witnessing attempts to undermine or weaken the multilateral trading 
system, including dispute settlement as one of its central pillars. Slovakia strongly believes that we 
collectively have to resist theses attempts.  
 
Another worrying trend is the rise of protectionism in many countries. Past experience has clearly 
proven that protectionism is an inefficient and very expensive way of protecting jobs and 
protectionist solutions do not reflect the nature of the modern ec onomy and the international 
nature of production.  
 
Slovakia supports an ambitious but realistic and balanced package for the 11th Ministerial 
Conference. We also believe that WTO members will be able to adopt acceptable outcomes on 
permanent solution on th e issue of public stockholding for food security purposes and on fisheries 
subsidies at the end of this conference.  
 
Let me reiterate, that active and constructive participation and strong sense of responsibility is 
needed from all WTO Members States, refl ecting their respective positions in the world economy 
and their different capacities to contribute to the system.  We believe our collective wisdom will 
help us to agree on such a post -Buenos Aires working program that will preserve the WTO as a 
modern and  functional international organization for developing, monitoring and enforcing global 
trading rules.  
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