WT/MIN(17)/ST/123  
 
8 January 2018  
(18-0119) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MS  KHADRA AHMED DUALEH   
MINISTER OF COMMERCE  AND INDUSTRY  
SOMALIA  
(Speaking as an Observer)  
On behalf of the Federal Government of Somalia, and in my personal capacity, I would like to 
thank the Government of the Argentine Republic and the authorities of Buenos Aires for bringing 
us all together and organizing the 11th Ministerial Conference. We extend our sincere appreciation, 
to MC11 Chair, Her Excellency Susana Malcorra - who as a truly global diplomat has her own 
historical links to Somalia having worked there in the past, and moreover who has graciously lent 
her support to myself and my deleg ation in the lead up to MC11.  
 
On behalf of the Federal Government of Somalia, I would like to congratulate the re -election of 
Roberto Az evêdo, the distinguished Director - General, and warmly welcome Ambassador Alan 
Wolff in his new role of the Deputy Di rector - General.  
 
I am honoured to be sitting here amongst my esteemed counterparts: from those who represent 
states that are WTO members, to those representing countries currently navigating their own 
accession.  It seems like only yesterday, Somalia 's WTO application for accession took place during 
MC10 in 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.  Somalia 's Accession helps to showcase to the world; indeed, an 
African state has a seat at the table in the international trade community and has full ownership of 
their trade  regimes.  
 
The Ministerial Conference has always been a great opportunity to detect the issues WTO Members 
deem necessary to enhance their work. Previous gatherings highlighted, some of the lasting issues 
facing the trading world, with Nairobi voicing the problems in agriculture, Bali reiterating the 
importance of alleviating the position of LDCs, the Geneva talks addressing the surging 
interrelation between trade and development and Doha tackling the interplay between TRIPs and 
public health among other is sues. The last one, held in Nairobi, allowed the Federal Government of 
Somalia to announce its very own request for the WTO application while the efforts and talent put 
in achieving the accession to the WTO of Afghanistan and Liberia have been largely cele brated.  
 
Learning from such successful stories, the Federal Government of Somalia put in an extraordinary 
effort to maintain its commitment to the WTO accession, despite the extended periods of 
instability. Most recently, in August 2017, we were supported  in the first Regional Dialogue on 
WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa where we introduced the first outline of our 
Memorandum on Foreign Trade Regime - also known as the MFTR. Bearing in mind, that it has 
normally taken on average more than four  years for LDCs to accomplish this early step, I am 
delighted to announce that our MFTR has been drafted in four months.  
 
Suffice it to say, the success that Somalia has achieved in this regard promises that 2018 will be 
successful year for the substantiv e discussions at the level of the Working Parties and work within 
the newly formed G7+ WTO Accessions Group. This week is historical for many other reasons - 
letters of credit for example were reintroduced to Somalia by premier bank and supported by my 
Ministry.   
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/123  
 
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  Somalia has recently taken bold steps to address corruption. The Anti -Corruption Bill critical in 
putting in place measures for good governance and accountability has been enacted. 
The leadership of Somalia has also reiterated its zero tolerance for corruption. Furthermore, the 
Communication Bill has been approved and we are ready to submit the Company Law to the 
Cabinet.  
 
The Federal Government of Somalia,  has shown on numerous occasions the commitment to this 
important goal of acceding to the WTO.  Somalia is well known for a dynamic private sector that 
has survived and indeed thrived in the most difficult of circumstances. As a result, the Ministry of 
Commerce and Industry is working closely with the private sector through PPD to improve the 
overall Investment Climate.  
 
As an LDC Member, Somalia would like to share the voice of all the LDCs and emphasize the 
importance of incentivizing the implementation o f the Decision on the Accession of LDCs both in its 
2002 and 2012 LDC Accession Guidelines ' Versions. In the same spirit, Somalia is calling for the 
operationalization of the decisions of the 9th Conference in Bali, in particular on the LDCs 
priorities.  
 
In line with its nature as an LDC country, our Negotiating Team is aware of the importance of not 
being requested to undertake more than it can deliver. WTO members must give consideration to 
the special and differential treatment of the acceding LDCs as w ell as their application for waivers.   
On its acceding path, Somalia recognizes that it is important not to accept far -reaching 
concessions requests, without securing exceptions and sufficient transition periods.  
 
The Federal Government of Somalia, warml y welcomes the thematic focus of the MC11 – "WTO 
Accessions and the Business Environment ", recognizing in this regard the important work the 
International Trade Centre has been pursuing in fostering SMEs in countries similar to Somalia 
with the objective o f faster integration into the Multilateral Trading System and promotion of 
peace, security and stability through more developed business environment.  
 
Although the needs of the SME sector in Somalia are myriad, the Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry has de termined a package of policy and financial incentives that will strengthen the 
integration of the Somali SME sector in the global economy, in order to reach our goals, technical 
assistance is crucial to enable our Negotiating Team to deliver promises rathe r than delay the 
process.  
 
Finally, we salute our partners who have contributed in making this accession process a 
resounding success so far, and we wish to assure you, that Somalia is open for business as a 
respectable partner. We also want to affirm, we  fully subscribe to the common African position on 
strengthening the rules -based multi -lateral trading system for the "Africa we want " sounded on 
principles of respectable, fair and transparent global trade and with mutual benefit for all.  
 
In conclusion, it is of the utmost importance for the Federal Government of Somalia to note the 
exceptional support and assistance, provided by the stellar WTO Accessions Division Team, and in 
particular, by Ms. Maika Oshikawa and Mr. Stefan Sandstad. We are looking forw ard to 
collaborating even more with the whole WTO family on the path of reaching our goal to acceding to 
the multilateral trading system and WTO rules, which include over 98% of global trade.  
 
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