JOB/GC/209  
 
6 December 2018  
(18-7738) Page: 1/3 
General Council  Original: English  
 
INFORMAL WORKING GRO UP ON MSMES  
END OF YEAR WRAP -UP SESSION: SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS  
The following communication, dated 6  December 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Uruguay.  
 
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The session was convened on 30 November 2018 by H.E. Mr. José Luís Cancela Gómez, Ambassador 
of Uruguay and General Coordinator of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on MSMEs.  
 
1  REMARKS BY THE GENER AL COORDINATOR  
1.1.  Ambassador Cancela opened the meeting by welco ming Armenia as the 89th member of the 
MSME IWG (counting EU Member States individually).  
1.2.  The Group then adopted its Annual Report for 2018.  
1.3.  Amb. Cancela debriefed the Group on the consultations held with interested delegations on 
21-22 November to discuss  the way forward and the organization  of work in 2019. A total of 
13 delegations had been formally consulted, many of which noted the need for concrete outcomes, 
with a view towards MC12.  
1.4.  Amb. Cancela outlined three key objectives for next year: 1) to achi eve concrete deliverables; 
2) to expand the G roup's membership; and 3) to secure commitment by Ministers at MC12 and aim 
for a ministerial declaration.  
1.5.  Further, Amb. Cancela proposed a work programme for 2019 based on a standing agenda (see 
annex 1). The s tanding agenda would discuss th ematic work of interest to the G roup; review 
outreach activities to expand MSME membership; and review work relev ant to MSMEs done in other 
WTO C ommittees to avoid duplication of effort. He emphasized the G roup's analytical r ole and 
proposed various issues for further investigation by the Secretariat, including TPRs, mapping national 
trade finance programmes and de minimis . He proposed that the Group hold four regular meetings 
a year based on the agreed standing agenda. If oth er issues  of interest are raised by the G roup that 
require more in -depth discussions, Amb. Cancela invited Members to organize thematic sessions 
outside of the standing MSME IWG meetings.  
1.6.  During the consultations, on e member proposed the idea of a public w ebpage that could provide 
information and links to MSMEs about where to find trade information relevant to them. Amb. 
Cancela proposed that if the current internal WTO MSME webpage cannot be made public, perhaps 
a general webpage with useful links such as the Global Trade Helpdesk, online WTO resources, and 
a list of national contact points could be  developed instead. He invited m embers to discuss the 
possible content of such a webpage.  
1.7.  Regarding institutional arrangements, Amb. Canc ela suggested the need f or the G roup to 
engage more actively with the private sector and for a change in the G roup's coordinating structure. 
He suggested holding regular meetings with representatives of the private sector to hear their views, 
and proposed a lighter, more flexible  and pragm atic coordinating process with m embers taking the JOB/GC/209  
 
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  lead on subjects of interest, rather than continuing with a formal coordinating committee and 
thematic sessions as took place over 2018.  
2  DISCUSSION  
2.1.  Various delegations  gave interventions following  Amb. Cancela's presentation. Mem bers 
confirmed Amb. Cancela as General C oordinator of the MSME IWG and supported the proposed way 
forward, including the idea to conduct future meetings based on a standing  agenda. Several 
members indicated that they would submit proposals for the G roup to consider under agenda item  1 
(thematic work).  
2.2.  Members also supported Amb. Cancela's call for closer ties with other WTO C ommittees and 
Joint Initiatives, including the e -Commerce Joint Initiative and the Working Group on T rade, Debt 
and Finance.  
2.3.  As the MSME IWG continues to expand its membership with the aim of a m ultilateral outcome 
at MC12, a m ember underscored the need to step up outreach efforts to certain groups, such as the 
LDC Group.  
2.4.  Several delegations stressed the  particular needs of MSME s in landlocked countries. 
Amb.  Cancela suggested that interested m embers join together and look into specific proposals to 
address this difficulty.  
3  NEXT STEPS  
3.1.  The first 2019 MSME Informal Working Group plenary meeting is expected to be held in early 
February.  
  JOB/GC/209  
 
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  ANNEX  
PROPOSED STANDING AG ENDA FOR 2019 MSME I WG MEETINGS  
 
Item 1 – Thematic work  
A. Transparency cluster (would include issues related to access to information, information 
sharing, and TPRs) . 
B. Thematic cluster (exchange of national experiences (best practices) and development of 
guidelines/recommendations on various issues such as trade finance, national contact 
points, logistics, de minimis ). 
C. Analytical tools cluster (work on data collection) . 
D. Conceptual cluster (explore the relevance of developing and promoting general principles 
such as the "think small principle") . 
 
Item 2 – Review of outreach activities  
- with other Members ; 
- with other organizations [this could include with the ICC; the Wo rld SME Forum; etc .]. 
 
Item 3 – MSME -related discussions in other WTO C ommittees  
Chairs of regular WTO B odies would be invited to brief the MSME Informal Working Group on 
MSME -related discussions in their respective  committees.  
This item could also be an opportunity to coordinate positions or actions of the MSME I nformal 
Working Group in these committees.  
 
Item 4 – [adoption of the annual report – for end -of-year meeting only]  
 
Item 4 or 5  – Other business  
 
 
 
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