WT/MIN(17)/75  
25 January  2018 
(18-0569) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
STATEMENT BY H.E.  MR MAURICIO MACRI  
PRESIDENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC  
MC11 OPENING SESSION – 10 DECEMBER 2017  
It is a pleasure to receive you in Buenos Aires for this 11th World  Trade Organization 
Ministerial  Conference.  
As my dear friend Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay, has said, f or Argentina and 
South  America, it is historically significant that the WTO is holding its highest -level meeting in our 
region for the first tim e; this is an opportunity for us to renew our firm commitment to 
strengthening the multilateral trading system, which will allow us to improve the lives of our 
people . I therefore wish to extend my particular thanks to the esteemed Presidents of Brazil, 
Uruguay and Paraguay, who join us today in a clear gesture of support for multilateralism and the 
shared objective of building a fair trading system based on clear rules . I would also like to thank 
all WTO Members for having bestowed on the Argentine people the honour of organizing this event 
in the year of the 50th anniversary of our country's accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs 
and Trade, which preceded the WTO . And allow me to congratulate the WTO Director -General, 
Roberto  Azevêdo, and his team, on their leadership in the preparatory process, and to extend 
special thanks to our dear friend, Conference Chair, Susana Malcorra.  
For more than 20  years, the WTO has been a cornerstone of the global economic governance 
system . Since its creation, trade h as been a key source of growth and development ; however, we 
know that the benefits have still not reached everyone, causing some to question economic 
globalization . We live in a time of profound global changes, and it is the responsibility of all of us 
to face the challenges of the 21st century and turn them into opportunities for a more inclusive 
future.  
Argentina wants to help boost growth, play its part, and build consensus for sustainable and fair 
development . We believe that this can only be achieved b y working together through more 
interconnected economies which promote job creation, quality education, innovation and the 
insertion of SMEs in value chains.  
This 11th Ministerial Conference coincides with a new Argentina th at has aroused great 
enthusiasm  – we want a reliable, productive and sustainable Argentina that is integrated into the 
world . Hosting this Conference and assuming the presidency of the G -20 underlines our desire to 
be part of a global conversation that will improve the quality of life of  million s of Argentines.  
As the host country, we hope to lay the foundations for the debate about how to make the 
multilateral trading system more efficient so that it becomes an engine for development . We are 
convinced that the way to achieve this is thro ugh an open world where we all trade with each 
other based on clear and fair rules . We are also convinced that we must work so that the benefits 
of global and regional trade reach more people, generating quality jobs and social well -being.  
However, the cha llenges ahead are numerous . We do not believe it is sustainable to move forward 
in a framework where the other is always the protectionist or the one that breaks the rules . The 
WTO's problems will be solved by more WTO, not less.  WT/MIN(17)/75  
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  The time has come to be pr agmatic and to move forward on the basis of a blueprint which, while 
not perfect, allows us to take small but firm steps . We continue to believe in the consensus  route , 
which  is fundamental for reaching legitimate decisions that we can all call our own . This consensus 
must be built responsibly , with a commitment to avoid stalemates , and for the sole purpose of 
maximizing the defence of our national interests . 
Now, more than ever, we must be conscious of what we are  expected to give up,  and the more  we 
can give up for the collective good , the more we will be moving in the right direction . International 
organizations work when the national responsibilities of each government towards its people are 
balanced by its international responsibilities towards  other States . We can defend the primacy of 
national interests and wait for the next crisis  or we can put our shared interests first and deeply 
examine the kind of WTO that we need and can promote.  
In a global environment marked by an incipient rec overy of  international trade in  2017, we have 
reasons to be optimistic , and yet our  task is to transform this upturn into sustained growth in 
trade . We must travel this road together , and this Conference gives us an historic opportunity to 
strengthen the multilate ral trading system with the WTO at its heart . It is important that we 
continue to believe in this system and its rules, as they guarantee the predictability of global trade 
flows and their growth.  
I therefore invite you to advance with the consensus needed  to ensure that the rules of global 
trade are aligned with the social realities of the 21st century . I invite you to work together to 
spread the benefits of trade while putting human  development, care for the planet, gender 
equality and social justice at t he heart of the debate.  
I thank you all once again for being here today in order to work, take concrete steps towards the 
goals we have set, and make this Ministerial Conference a significant contributor to the fu ture of 
international trade and, above all and fundamentally, to the wel l-being of our people . 
 
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