WT/MIN(13)/ST/86  
5 December 2013  
(13-6760)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: French  
 
  STATEMENT BY H.E. MR HASSAN AHMED BOULALEH 
DEPUTY MINISTER FOR TRADE, SMES, CRAFTS, 
TOURISM AND FORMALIZATION 
DJIBOUTI  
First of all, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Indonesia for its warm welcome and impeccable 
organization of this Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and to the Chair of this Conference, Mr Gita Wirj awan, for inviting us to convene on the beautiful 
island of Bali. 
My congratulations and encouragement go to th e Director-General of the WTO, Mr Azevêdo, 
for his tireless efforts to conclude the negotiations. 
The Republic of Djibouti endorses the statemen ts made by the LDC Group, the African Union, 
the ACP countries and the countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. 
The Doha Round, which began as the "Development" Round, has yet to yield any tangible results. 
It has not progressed sufficiently to fulfil our countries' expectations. 
I share the concerns expressed on the state of play of the negotiations known as the 
"Bali package". We need to conclude a single package covering trade facilitation, agriculture and development issues. As the Director-General said at the opening session, you cannot remove 
a brick from this package: "It's now or never". 
Likewise, postponing this decision until after Bali is not a realistic option. Therefore, we must focus 
our efforts on the outstanding issues and resolve them during this Conference. 
We have to live up to our responsibilities and take this unique opportunity to complete the last 
mile. By concluding the Bali package we will pave the way to further progress in the Doha Round. We will show the world that we are capable of negotiating and achieving important results on trade 
issues at the multilateral level. 
On behalf of the President of the Republic of Djibouti, H.E. Mr Ismaël Omar Guelleh, 
and my country's Government, I express our st rongest support to the Republic of Yemen 
in its accession to the World Trade Organization. 
We commend the laudable efforts made by the Government of Yemen, which has made vast 
progress since 2000. It has implemented the reforms recommended to bring its economic regulation system into line with the provisions of the WTO Agreements. 
The Republic of Djibouti, which shares historical values and enjoys friendly and fraternal relations 
with Yemen, welcomes this accession, which is a strong, positive and clear signal and reflects our countries' commitment to participating in the global economy within the framework 
of a rules-based trading system geared towards development. 
I urge the WTO to provide us with all the necessary expertise and its customary technical 
assistance in order to support us and facilitate our integration into production structures, value chains and international trade networks. WT/MIN(13)/ST/86 
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  During this Conference, we have observed a broad variety of views among Members on key issues 
of the world trade agenda. 
However, we see that preserving the multilateral trading system of the WTO and maintaining 
its universality and efficiency are absolute priorities for all Members without exception. 
This encourages us to believe that despite all the difficulties Members are eager to work 
collectively and come to pragmatic decisions. 
Since the last Ministerial Conference, the Republic of Djibouti has made huge strides in terms 
of trade and investment. Under the able leadership of our President, H.E. Mr Ismael Omar Guelleh, 
our country has put into place many regional and international infrastructures, thereby creating an environment conducive to trade and developmen t. My country's various reforms have started 
to bear fruit as regards trade facilitation and improvement of the business climate. 
The Republic of Djibouti is currently conducting the second review of its trade policy with the WTO. 
This will enable us to gauge Djibouti's participation in international trade at both the multilateral and the regional level and to make a more accurate assessment of our country's integration 
in the global economy. 
Djibouti is committed to the WTO and the multilateral trading system. The Republic of Djibouti remains determined to participate in the Development Round agreed 
in Doha and to bring it to its final conclusion, based on a fair and balanced outcome that gives 
centre stage to development gains.  
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