WT/MIN(13)/ST/48  
5 December 2013  
(13-6703)  Page: 1/1  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. HON. DR ABDALLAH OMARI KIGODA 
MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE 
TANZANIA  
My delegation appreciates the warm reception accord ed to it by the Government of the Republic of 
Indonesia and her people  I commend you Chair as well as the DG and the Secretariat of the WTO for your dedication and efforts in the preparation of this important Conference. Let me also take this opportunity to warmly welcome the accession of Yemen to the WTO.  
 
At these times when we struggle hard to uplift  our economies to at least lower middle income 
level, WTO as a global entity should not underpl ay the economic and social interface between the 
stronger and the weaker nations. All this time we focus our attention on reducing poverty globally 
and spend quantum of resources towards this cause.  The aim is to minimize the gap, as humanly 
as possible, between the weaker and stronger nations. 
 
One dependable avenue for effective poverty reduction is through trade and its related services. That is why WTO was established to ensure that we have a multilateral trading system which is smooth, predictable, freer and fairer. 
 
LDCs are vulnerable and their concerns are well known and have been reiterated several times in a number of deliberations including the Dar es Salaam Declaration. Members have been promising 
that if DDA is concluded or an early harvest is attained LDC issues will be of priority. However, in 
reality, we have failed to find a balance. Our expectations of achieving a harmonized and simplified LDC export facilitative Rules of Origin from pr eference granting members have faded. For the 
preferential markets to be meaningful to LDCs adoption of simpler and coherent rules of origin is 
critical. On the LDCs Services Waiver, we welcome flexibility and commitment from our partners within the spirit of removing unnecessary market limitations impeding LDCs benefiting from the 
given waiver. The Duty Free -Quota Free is a guar antee for market access for LDCs. However, the 
desire for DFQF should not in any way result in to making some members worse off than before.  
 The LDCs package or issues in the draft text is in fact very weak, in that it contains best endeavor  
or conferences instead of the binding commitments that the LDCs wanted. This package represents 
a platform of LDCs issues which is not a final outcome but only a means or stage of a work in progress. It is only a milestone and not a final destination. We expect work on each issue to 
continue and indeed intensify after Bali. We expect a progress report at each Ministerial after Bali 
and striving for a real substantial progress. It is on this understanding that Tanzania can realize the benefits of this LDCs package.  
Trade Facilitation Agreement should not pose a burden beyond financial and technical resources or 
divert our limited resources. Surely, a full binding Trade Facilitation Agreement will be costly to implement and might increase imports of net im porting countries as compared to exports and 
requires the input of significant resources which LDCs cannot cope with. We discourage the 
introduction of new issues before DDA is concluded and the proliferation of plurilaterals which are against the spirit of multilateralism. Let us agree to address these imbalances post Bali with a win-
win situation in mind. 
 O n  b e h a l f  o f  m y  d e l e g a t i o n ,  I  w o u l d  l i k e  t o  a f f i r m  o u r  c o m m i t m e n t  t h a t  w e  w i l l  r e m a i n  constructively engaged to all initiatives aimed at making all Members better off. 
 
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