WT/MIN(22)/ST/45  
12 June 2022 
(22-4482) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR MUHAMMAD LUTFI  
MINISTER  OF TRADE  
INDONESIA  
It is a great pleasure for me to participate in the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, here in Geneva, 
the home of the WTO.  
 
On behalf of Indonesia, I wish to express our sincere gratitude to you, Mr. Chairman, the 
Government of Kazakhstan, and Madam Director -General for your generous hospitality and excellent 
arrangements in hosting this Ministerial Conference.  
 
I am convinced that under your leadership, we will be able to  come back to trade, deliver results, 
and set a common agenda for the future.  
 
The WTO has already been grappling with challenges of reform and pressure to remain fit for 
purpose.  
 
We all want to improve the existing agreements, to address trade imbalanc es we have been 
confronting for decades. Likewise, we demand to update the WTO rulebooks to fit current trade 
realities.  
 
The WTO is the only international body governing the rules of trade between nations. We must 
demonstrate that we have an organization that is part of the solution to address multiple crises of 
our time, in the economy, environment, health, and security.  
 
But the bedrock of the international trading system remains unchanged. That is all Members should 
be able to undertake WTO functions, and fully accept the benefits of a multilateral trading system.  
 
Moving forward is the only way for the WTO to strengthen global trading system. It is our 
responsibility as trade Ministers to solve long longstanding issues, as set by all of the WTO members.  
 
I wish to contribute to this process with a view to advance the agriculture negotiations.  
 
Agriculture remains an important economic pillar for many WTO Members, particularly developing 
countries and least developed countries.  
 
MC12 could not have been more timely. Given the escalating problem of food security, we need a 
policy space more than ever to tackle imbalances in the global trade of agriculture.  
 
For this reason, I would like to emphasize the urgency of WTO Members to address cruci al issues, 
including food security, livelihood security, and rural development.  
 
We recall our commitment to achieving permanent solutions for Public Stockholding for Food Security 
Purposes and Special Safeguard Mechanism.  
 
And to complete this process, we must put the centrality of development and the special and 
differential treatment at the core of this work.  
 
We must land these long -overdue decisions in Geneva to ensure a successful MC12 outcome.  WT/MIN( 22)/ST/ 45 
 
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  In moving forward, we also believe in the role of the multilateral trading system to promote 
Sustainable Development Goals.  
 
We have the opportunity to create an effective discipline on fisheries subsidies that can prevent 
further deterioration of our oceans.  
 
We agree that fundamental principle of the fishe ries discipline is to ensure a significant reduction of 
harmful subsidies, which contribute to overfishing, overcapacity, and IUU Fishing.  
 
However, most developing countries are far from achieving a level playing field of government 
support in the fisheri es sector.  
 
Therefore, it is necessary to balance the current text that takes into account common but 
differentiated responsibility.  
 
Discipline on fisheries subsidies should not abandon the development objective of countries that rely 
on artisanal and sma ll-scale fisheries for local economy and poverty alleviation.  
 
For that, Indonesia is encouraged to engage constructively with all countries to deliver the best 
result that we can endeavor.  
 
The whole world is watching all of us on how trade Ministers can deliver and turn the pandemic into 
an opportunity to recover stronger.  
 
We need to agree on a holistic outcome to address the COVID -19 and future pandemic preparedness.  
 
The WTO Response to the Pandemic is paramount. This MC12 is the real tes t to the system on 
whether we can deliver what people really need.  
 
We must show that we can address key barriers to the universal and equal access to COVID -19 
vaccines, essential goods, and technologies.  
 
To this end, I believe the TRIPs Waiver must be th e main part of our answers to the world in handling 
of the pandemic.  
 
We need to accelerate our work to achieve substantive results by the end of this week.  
 
The foremost task is to talk to each other on how to restore a functional WTO dispute settlement 
system.  
 
Putting the conversation on hold and bypassing new dispute arrangement and rules will only damage 
the credibility of the system.  
 
We have to agree to discuss and settle for a pragmatic solution.  
 
I am optimistic that the MC12 will be remembered as one of the most successful WTO Ministerial 
Conferences that is able to deliver meaningful outcomes for the benefit of all our people.  
 
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