WT/MIN(13)/ST/123  
14 February 2014  
(14-0919)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR NAM VIYAKETH 
MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC  
It is my great pleasure to attend the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference. As our Director General 
Roberto Azevêdo has mentioned, this is the first Ministerial Conference Lao PDR is attending as a member of this Organization – and we do hope and expect to attend a meaningful meeting On 
behalf of the Lao delegation, I would like to exte nd my deepest thanks to the authorities and the 
people of Indonesia for the warm welcome we have received in this wonderful setting; as well as 
to the WTO secretariat for the excellent organization of this meeting.  
Special thanks and our admiration go to our new DG, who has led this final negotiation for Bali 
with a lot of enthusiasm and skills.  Your leadership has reinvigorated the negotiations. You have been able to restore a sense of common purpose, a willingness to cooperate, to find solutions 
rather than to enumerate problems. The spirit of an inclusive multilateral cooperation was borne 
again.  Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to  harvest the fruits of this new spirit. But we all 
will not give up; we have come too far to abandon now; we will prevail and save the system that has so well served us. 
 
Even though we do not have a consensus on the package before us, we do have a negotiated package. Like many of us, Lao PDR is not satisfied with all that has been agreed upon. Like many 
of our colleagues we hoped for more in Bali. However,  let’s not forget that this is not the final deal, 
but a first step towards a more comprehensive multilateral deal. We have to show the world that this institution is able to agree on some elements  to keep the multilateral system alive. For the 
sake of the survival of an inclusive multilateral system, I urge all members to make their utmost to 
conclude this package and to let us go on with our main business of establishing a fair, open, rules-based and inclusive multilateral trading syst em. Our citizen, wherever they are, want jobs 
and development. We all know that this requires a functioning multilateral trading system. Let us 
not disappoint them. 
 We want to concentrate on the way forward. The Bali package is a necessary step, but it is not 
e n o u g h  t o  r e i n v i g o r a t e  t h e  n e g o t i a t i o n s  o n  i t s  o w n .  W e  h a v e  t o  r e i n v e n t  t h e  w a y  w e  a r e  
negotiating so as to be more efficient, to increase our chances to come to consensus decisions in a reasonable amount of time. 
 
Let’s work together on a roadmap to finish this Round that has lasted much too long. Lao PDR is ready and willing to consider any proposals to increase the efficiency of the negotiation process as long as they do not put into jeopardy the Development Agenda. We also ask our colleagues to 
commit themselves unequivocally to respect the incl usiveness of the multilateral system. This does 
not mean that we question the rights of members who are willing to go beyond what can be achieved within the inclusive system. However, those efforts should respect the basic framework 
and principles of WTO and not lead either to a modification of the objectives agreed upon 
multilaterally or to the marginalization of the poorer developing countries.  
It is up to us, the Ministers, to give the necessary impulse to define a credible way forward that 
convinces all parties that the Doha Round can be finished successfully. The future of the inclusive multilateral system is at stake unless we can overcome the basic obstacles that prevent us from reaching agreement on an inclusive multilateral syst em.  We therefore believe that the future work 
program should contain two major parts: WT/MIN(13)/ST/123 
 
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 A time limited  work program outlining the negotiating process on the issues members 
have taken decisions on here in Bali or where the decisions have been postponed for after Bali; 
 
 A decision to address the underlying issues which have prevented us from coming to 
an agreement on the Doha Development Agenda and a mandate to the institution to 
come up with a new way of negotiation re ady for adoption at the next Ministerial 
Meeting. It is our believe that only a deep reform on how we work, a new consensus about the rights and obligations of all parties, an open discussion on how mega-deals and plurilaterals may affect positively or negatively the inclusive multilateral system 
will allow us to find a new consensus on how the multilateral trade framework should 
be established and how it should work to the benefit of all WTO members whether big or small, rich or poor, developed or in development. 
 
I am confident that such a consensus can be reached; that such a consensus will lead to an agreement on the development agenda and the reinvigoration of our transparent and equitable 
multilateral trading system. 
 In closing, I would like to exte nd a warm welcome to the Republic  of Yemen as new member of the 
WTO. 
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