WT/MIN(15)/33  
18 December 2015  
(15-6733) Page: 1/2 
Ministeria l Conference  
Tenth  Session  
Nairobi , 15-18 December 20 15 Original: English  
 
 COMMUNIQUÉ - ARAB MINISTERIAL MEE TING  
NAIROBI, 15 DECEMBER  2015  
 
The following communication, dated 18 December 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Arab Group.  
 
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We, the Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the Arab Group, having met on 15th December 
2015 in Nairobi, Kenya on the occasion of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
Organization;  
We reiterate  the common position adopted in our Ministerial Meeti ng held in Riyadh on 
14 October 2014;  
We regret  that even after enormous efforts members could not finalize a package for this 
Conference.  We recognize  the divergences among Members on substantive issues but also 
appreciate  the significance of the work pro duced since the initiation of the negotiations;  
 
We recognize  the importance of WTO for the multilateral trading system, and its significant role 
to the establishment of inclusive and dynamic economic and trade environment that could serve 
development and global economic growth;  
 
We confirm  our commitment to active participation in the WTO Tenth Ministerial Conference in 
Nairobi / Kenya, to ensure its success and to reach positive and meaningful results that will serve 
the interests and needs of Developing and least Developed members, including the interests and 
needs of the Arab countries; in order to contribute to a more solid, equitable and sustainable 
multilateral trading system;  
 
We reiterate  our full commitment to the Doha Ministerial Declaration to pl ace the needs and 
interests of developing countries, especially the least developed ones at the heart of the 
negotiations, and the need of the negotiations to be inclusive and transparent to ensure 
consensual and satisfactory results based on full particip ation;  
 
We reaffirm  the centrality of the development dimension to the multilateral trading system. The 
system must be responsive to the needs and realities of developing and least developed countries;  
 
We call  upon WTO members to show the necessary politi cal will and leadership to achieve 
progress in the DDA negotiations, which would lay the basis for a successful MC10;  
 
We stress the importance of addressing the remaining issues of the DDA in the future 
negotiations. And emphasize  that the negotiations mu st maintain the flexibilities and the special 
and differential treatment granted to developing and least developed countries, and take into 
account all the negotiating elements in an equal manner;  
 
We recognize t he extensive commitments made by Article XII  Members "RAMs " during their 
respective accessions, and the need to give full recognition and proper consideration to their 
special situation in the negotiations;  WT/MIN(15)/33  
 
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  We assert  our continued and unwavering support for Palestine’s request for observer status i n the 
General Council and its subsidiary bodies. While being mindful of the fact that the Government of 
Palestine practices trade regulation in all areas covered by WTO law, we encourage Members to 
provide a favorable consideration to Palestine’s request f or observer status at the General Council. 
In order to improve the legitimacy and inclusive nature of the WTO, we are of the view that 
requests for observer status cannot be denied on the basis of political considerations;  
 
We reaffirm  the integrality and  importance of S&D provisions in the WTO agreements, and agree 
that in line with paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, all S&D provisions have to be 
reviewed with a view towards strengthening them and making them more precise, effective, and 
operational ; 
 
We stress  the importance of reaching an effective solution to address the imbalance in the 
Agreement on Agriculture and the food security needs of developing and least developed 
countries. Also emphasize  on the need for addressing tariff peaks and tariff escalations in 
Agriculture ; 
 
We r eaffirm  the support of the Arab League request for observer status in the councils, bodies 
and committees of the World Trade Organization and its Ministerial Conferences;  
 
We reconfirm the need to consider a set of revised objective guidelines for granting observer 
status to all IGOs in the WTO, as well as in the ministerial conferences. We strongly stress the 
importance of adopting such guidelines as soon as possible to allow for a more conclusive 
engagement of a ll IGOs in all WTO activities;  
 
We reiterate  the importance of recognizing the Arabic language as one of the official working 
languages in the WTO, as it is the case in the United Nations Organizations. Arabic is one of the 
most spoken native language in t he world; accordingly the recognition of Arabic as a WTO working 
language would facilitate the participation of governments of Arab States and would serve to 
promote awareness about the multilateral trading system in the Arab region;  
 
We urge  the WTO to fa cilitate and accelerate the accession of Developing and Least Developed 
Countries including Arab Countries. Also, call for the need to improve transparency and establish 
clear and specific criteria for the accession of Developing and Least Developed Countr ies, and 
grant them the right for special and differential treatment automatically upon accession;  
 
We welcome  the accession of Seychelles and Kazakhstan to the WTO and look forward to the 
impending accession of Afghanistan and Liberia this week. Each succ essful accession advances the 
truly global nature of the trading system and of the WTO;  
 
We emphasize  the importance of providing developing countries and least developed countries 
with technical and financial assistance and capacity building, to enable t hem to engage effectively 
in the multilateral trading system and contribute to the global economy;  
 
We underline  the importance of cooperation between the WTO and other International Financial 
Organizations towards effective implementation of the Aid for T rade initiative. In this regard, 
we commend  the Aid for Trade Initiative for Arab States (AfTIAS) provided by the  the 
International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation  (ITFC) , and stress the need for continued support 
to this important initiative as a tool t o serve the trade in Arab countries and enable them to 
engage in the global economy;  
 
We express  our sincere appreciation to the government of Kenya and its people for their warm 
hospitality and for hosting the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi su ccessfully.  
 
 
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