WT/MIN(24)/ST/9  
26 February  2024 
(24-1423) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth Session  
Abu Dhabi, 26 -29 February 2024  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR SIMONAS ŠATŪNAS  
VICE -MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS  
LITHUANIA  
I would like to thank the Government of the United Arab Emirates for hosting the 13th Ministerial 
Conference of the World Trade Organization. Our host, the United Arab Emirates is a forward -looking, 
culturally rich, and economically vibrant country. This is the right place to gather the global trade 
community.  I would also like to extend my  sincere congratulations to the Timor -Leste and Comoros 
for the accession to the WTO. Each new Member strengthens the trust and support of the multilateral 
trade system.  
 
The WTO is the backbone of the rules -based international trade system providing a fra mework for 
negotiating and implementing trade agreements, settling trade disputes, and facilitating a system 
that promotes fairness and openness among its Member countries.  
 
Unfortunately, while we are meeting, unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression  against 
Ukraine, a sovereign country and a Member of the WTO, continues for the third year. This war is an 
attack against all the Members of the WTO, as it constitutes a danger to international trade, 
undermines the rules -based international system, and n egatively impacts the supply and 
affordability of food and basic commodities. Here, at the MC13, we must spare no efforts in 
constraining Russia 's lawlessness.  
 
Geopolitical turbulence significantly impacts international trade and food security, therefore we, the 
WTO community, must work on keeping open, predictable, transparent markets and maintaining 
resilient and sustainable supply chains.  
 
We also have to acknowledge that current trade rules are not enough to eliminate distortions 
generated by state -dominant economies like provision of industrial subsidies, anticompetitive actions 
by state -owned enterprises, application of economic coercion. Consequently, the WTO needs to 
improve the level playing field and address the unfair competition by looking much closer at the 
state's role in the economy. For us, this should be one of the main deliverables of the MC13.  
 
While the world is going digital, the WTO seems too slow to respond to the needs of the business 
community and consumers. We should aim for economi cally meaningful outcomes of the Joint 
Statement Initiative on E -commerce. We also must extend the Moratorium on Customs Duties on 
Electronic Transmissions, which helps to ensure predictability, digital transition, and competitiveness 
globally . 
 
The WTO ha s played a crucial role in providing a reliable platform for global trade for many years 
and it served as a "global public good ". However, lately, the WTO has been losing its significance as 
a center of global trade. If the Organization is to remain relevant, we must agree on its reform. 
Substantial improvements are needed across all three main pillars: dispute settlement, rulemaking, 
and monitoring.  
 WT/MIN(24)/ST/9  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Finally, we need to step aside from the negotiating papers of the past and look into the problems of 
today and the future. I call to join our forces to build a better and more sustainable world for 
everyone. It is time to solve all the aforementioned long -standing issues and make the impossible 
possible.  
 
__________