. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/82 
17 December 2011  
 
(11-6651) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
CROATIA 
 
Statement by H.E. Mrs Vesna Vukovic 
Ambassador, Permanent Representative 
  
At the outset I would like to thank the Govern ment of Switzerland, the City of Geneva and 
the WTO for their hard work in hosting a nd preparing this Ministerial Conference. 
 
We fully support the statement delivered by th e EU Trade Commissioner, Karel de Gucht on 
behalf of the EU.  
We are pleased to inform you that, last week in Brussels, Croatia has signed the 
Accession Treaty with the European Union, paving the way to become its 28
th member on 
1 July 2013. 
 
Croatia is fully aware of the difficult economic  time and would like to emphasize that its 
Membership in the WTO has marked the period of  its further liberalization, market opening and 
increased participation in the world trade. 
 
Therefore, on the grounds of its own experien ces, Croatia believes that further strengthening 
of the WTO system, implementation of agreements and improvement in transparency, would help to 
fight the protectionism, contribute to increase of  competitiveness, international cooperation and boost 
trade as a major vehicle for economic growth.  
Croatia strongly supports the accession of new Members to the WTO:  the 
Russian Federation, Samoa, Vanuatu and Monten egro - our neighbour.  We see these new accessions 
as a sign of strengthening of the WTO and the multilateral trading system.  
We firmly believe that development should stay at the heart of the WTO and in this sense we 
underline the need to further integrate developing countries, particularly LDCs, into the multilateral 
trading system.  
In the Doha Ministerial Conference, Croatia  strongly supported the new round of multilateral 
trade negotiations with a conviction that it will bring benefits and contribute to the 
long-term economic growth of all WTO Members. 
 
The challenge we face today is to advance and complete the Doha negotiations.  Even if we 
face an impasse, we reaffirm the Doha Mandate a nd we pledge to continue negotiations with a 
pragmatic approach, where progress can be made.  Th e Doha Declaration, so often mentioned during 
the year, gives the possibility to move forward in  small steps towards the full conclusion of the 
package. WT/MIN(11)/ST/82 
Page 2  
 
  We pay special attention to the future of  these negotiations based on the progress already 
made in these ten years, but allowing reaching pr ovisional or definitive agre ements earlier aiming to 
move forward and to be treated at a later stage as an integral part of the whole Doha package. 
 
Our position in this Round of negotiations is based on Croatia's exte nsive market access 
commitments which went far beyond those agreed in  the Uruguay Round.  Precisely because of that, 
we sincerely hope that the liberalization process will continue and would contribute to the increase of 
trade and the standard of living.  
We strongly believe that the WTO plays an in dispensable role in the multilateral trading 
system and are we sure that the Members will find a way forward. 
 
Finally, the way forward is the reason why we are here! 
 
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