WT/MIN(15)/ST/70  
21 December 2015  
(15-6801)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
 STATEMENT BY HON. MICHAEL CHAKANAKA BIMHA 
MINISTRY FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
ZIMBABWE  
Let me start by expressing my sincere gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Kenya for 
hosting this conference and for the warm and gracious hospitality extended to me and my delegation.  
My delegation would like to associate itself with the statement delivered by Lesotho on behalf of 
the Africa Group.  
O v e r  7 0 %  o f  Z i m b a b w e ’ s  p o p u l a t i o n  d e p e n d s  o n  a g r i c u l t u r e  a s  a  s o u r c e  o f  e m p l o y m e n t  a n d  
livelihoods. As such, addressing the imbalances in the Agreement on Agriculture, particularly on domestic support is of priority to Zimbabwe. Accordingly, we call for this pillar to be prioritised and 
vigorously pursued if we are to have a balanced outcome beneficial to the majority of our 
populace. This sector is key to our industrialization efforts.   In light of this, we need outcomes on effective Special Safeguard Measures to protect our farmers 
against import surges and price declines and a pe rmanent solution to the public Stockholding for 
food security purposes.  
My delegation is deeply concerned that we are likely to harvest a small and unbalanced package of 
outcomes at this Ministerial Conference.   
The DDA has failed to deliver development outc omes because some among us have not been 
seriously engaging in these negotiations. We therefore urge all of us to engage constructively. The playing field should be levelled and future DDA negotiations should address the needs of the small and poor nations.  
 
We therefore call for the reaffirmation of the DDA  and its principles. It will be important that 
negotiations post MC10 continue under the current architecture and in line with previous 
Ministerial Decisions.  This is what will deliver the development mandate, significantly contributing 
to the achievement of goal 17.10 of the 2030 Agen da for Sustainable Development and Africa’s 
Agenda 2063. I must emphasise that development should remain central to future negotiations. 
 
We wish to acknowledge that in its 20 years of existence, the WTO has made achievements in the 
areas of trade liberalization, Dispute Settlem ent and Trade Policy Review. The WTO made a 
landmark achievement in 2013 when the Trade Fa cilitation Agreement was adopted. Let us 
therefore keep this momentum and all work towards the successful conclusion of the DDA. 
 As regards new issues, my delegation would not be amenable to taking them up before the 
conclusion of the DDA.  This is the position that we all agreed to in paragraph g. of the July 
package in a General Council Decision in 2004.  
Zimbabwe remains committed to the success of the Multilateral Trading System and is not in 
favour of the proliferation of plurilateral approaches that undermine the functioning and pre-eminence of this global rule setting organisation.  WT/MIN(15)/ST/70 
 
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  We are of the view that Regional Trade Agreements should remain complementary and not 
substitute the Multilateral Trading System. The Multilateral Trading System is the only trading platform that it is inclusive and allows small economies such as our own, to have a voice as well as participate in setting the global rules of trade. 
 
We reiterate the need for a transparent, inclusive and member - driven process in all of our future work.  In that regard, Zimbabwe is ready to engage in a positive and constructive manner. 
 
We should ensure that we have a balanced outcome of the negotiations and that the DDA is not buried in Africa.  
Lastly I would like to warmly welcome Seychelles, Afghanistan, Liberia and Kazakhstan to the WTO 
family.  
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