. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/108 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6089) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
LESOTHO 
 
Statement by the Honourable Mpho Malie
 
Minister of Trade and Industry Cooperatives and Marketing  
   Permit me on behalf of the Government and pe ople of the Kingdom of Lesotho, and indeed 
on my own behalf, to express our appreciation for the warm welcome and ki nd hospitality extended to 
us by the government of Hong Kong, China.  The excellent facilities at our disposal will tremendously 
contribute to our discussions on all matters of  interest and enhance our participation. 
  Cognisant of the objective of the multilateral trading system reflected in the preamble to both the General Agreement on Tari ffs and Trade (GATT) 1947 a nd the Marrakech Agreement 
Establishing the World Trade Organi zation in 1994, I wish to present our vision of an international 
trading system that promotes economic development and benefit for all Members.  It is a system that 
increases the capacities of developing countries to pa rticipate in the multilateral trading system and 
consequently raise living standards and create em ployment.  This system needs an audience of 
WTO Members willing to give serious consideration to Members' views, ideas and proposals.  An 
effective and efficient trading system is a prere quisite for development in  general, and industrial 
development, in particular. 
  As members of the Africa Group, we recall the commitment undertaken by the WTO Members at Doha to place the needs and inter ests of developing countries and, in particular, 
LDCs, at the heart of  the Work Programme of this Round.  
 We are, however, concerned about lack of political will by some Members to build on the 
momentum created by the General Council Decision adopted on 1 August 2004, as manifested in the 
limited progress on the core elements of the development dimension of the Doha Work Programme.  It is our expectation that this Sixth Ministerial Conference will deliver a balanced and fair outcome, 
characterized by enhanced policy space, progress towards meeting the objectives of achieving full 
modalities while maintaining a high le vel of ambition agreed in Doha. 
  We wish to once again emphasize the impor tance of the agricultural sector because it 
provides a livelihood for a majority of our populations in Africa.  In Africa, particularly in African LDCs, agriculture is central to the economy, contri buting in most cases a significant share to GDP and 
forms a good base for industrialization.  We, ther efore, consider progress in the agriculture 
negotiations critical to Africa's development as the reforms hold the potential to lift millions of our 
people out of poverty.   Regarding TRIPS and Public Heath, we welc ome the decision of Members to extend the 
transition period until 1 July 2013 for LDCs to provide protection for trademarks, copyrights, patents 
and other intellectual property under the WTO Agreem ent.  This will go a long way towards ensuring 
that LDCs have the flexibility that they need in order to meet their WTO obligations in a way that 
serves their development needs. WT/MIN(05)/ST/108 
Page 2  
 
  On NAMA, regarding the sectoral initiative that ai ms to fast track elimination of duties, it 
should be noted that work is bei ng undertaken in sectors of export in terest to developing countries.  
We have echoed our concerns in relation to this initiative of fast tracked preference erosion which 
bears grave dangers for our economies, but we hope that appropriate safeguard  measures will be taken 
into consideration.  Attempts by some Members to reinterpret the NAMA text and assert that the less 
than full reciprocity on special and differential tr eatment provision in the tariff reduction formula and 
paragraph 8 flexibilities, are mutually exclusive, water down the possible developmental aspects of 
the NAMA negotiations.  In this regard, it is di fficult to accept that this Round is defined as 
developmental.    
 With respect to preference erosion, resu lting from the application of the tariff reduction 
formula, we urge Members to consider a suitable carve-out that shall be in favour of developing 
Member States.  For pref erence dependent countries it is very critical that operational measures are 
developed and adopted to mitigate the ne gative effects of preference erosion. 
 
 Tariff reduction is key to enhanced market access, but we should be mindful that such 
positive strides are not nullified by non-tariff barri ers which are a more serious impediment to 
international trade than tariffs.   We also emphasize the need to agree on pr ecise, effective and operational special and 
differential treatment provisions, which are cross-cutting in all areas under negotiation. 
 
 We continue to attach high priority to the Integrated Framework (IF) for LDCs.  In this connection, we welcome the decision of the IMF and World Bank for an enhanced IF.  We also 
recognize the agreement at the IF Steering Committee on the three fundamentals forming part of an 
enhanced IF, namely, increased, additional and pr edictable financial resources and strengthened 
capacities in the IF beneficiaries to mange and im plement the programmes.  We hope that the main 
objectives of this initiative will address our supply-sid e constraints and enhance our capacities to take 
advantage of the expanded trade opportunities.   We wish to register our gratitude to Member s who continue to extend preferences to LDCs.  
These initiatives have indeed contribu ted to attraction of FDI and enha ncement of investment in small 
economies, like that of Lesotho.  For purposes of ce rtainty, we request that some of these initiatives 
be bound in the WTO.  Also, it is important that Ru les of Origin are simple, transparent and flexible. 
  We also wish to express our appreciation fo r the deliberate efforts made within the WTO 
processes and structures to facilitate consultations and development of positions and convergence of 
views on undoubtedly complex negotiation issues. 
  It is our hope that the draft text will indeed  serve as a basis and framework for our discussions 
and that proposals advanced in the text will be ge nuinely and fully deliberat ed upon with a view to 
enhancing convergence of minds.  
 In conclusion, on behalf of my  delegation and my own behalf, I wish to take this opportunity 
to commend Mr Pascal Lamy, our new Director-Gen eral ad Ms Amina Mohammed, Chairperson of 
the General Council and officials of various missions  who represent their countries in Geneva for their 
tireless efforts to secure the in terests of all in the WTO. 
 
 Last, but not least in importance, we wish to welcome in our midst Tonga and Saudi Arabia as 
new Members of the WTO family.  
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