. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/26 
17 December 2011 
 (11-6619) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
ASEAN STATEMENT 
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 8
TH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Geneva, 16 December 2011 
 
  The following communication, dated 17 December 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Indonesia.  
_______________ 
 
  The ten Member States of the Association of  Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising 
Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, th e Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's 
Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanma r, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic 
of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the So cialist Republic of Viet Nam, reaffirm our 
determination to uphold and strengt hen the rules-based multilateral tr ading system, and the centrality 
of the WTO as an institution to safeguard and promote further trade liberalisation. 
  
We strongly reaffirm the pledges made by our Leaders at the 19
th ASEAN Summit in Bali, 
Indonesia, and also at the 19th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Hawaii, USA. 
  
While disappointed that the Doha Developmen t Agenda (DDA) cannot conclude this year 
with the current approach, we remain fully committed  to the effort to improve the multilateral trading 
system which represents gains for all Members. We  recognize that it is the responsibility of every 
WTO Member to consider new and alternative ways  to deliver a successful outcome, building upon 
the work already done, while at the same time ensuring and preserving the development mandate, 
including special and differential treatment provi sions. We welcome the opportunity, at the Eighth 
WTO Ministerial Conference (MC8) for all members to have frank discussions on the challenges ahead, and to collectively chart a common path to progress both the regular work of the WTO and the 
DDA. 
  
We welcome the development-focused outcomes agreed at MC8, such as those on the LDC 
services waiver and LDC accessions, as a first step to  delivering on the Doha Development Agenda.  
Enhancing developing members’ capacities to partic ipate more fully and openly in the multilateral 
trading system will allow trade-led growth to brin g development to the economies which need it most. 
ASEAN members are trading nations and some among us are Least Developing Country members 
(LDCs). We fully support initiatives which help LDCs achieve greater participation and integration at 
the WTO, as a direct means of promoting grow th and development. We  strongly support ongoing 
efforts to improve the LDC accessions process, a nd are especially encouraged by the excellent 
progress in the accession process of Lao PDR.  We  support the granting of Duty Free Quota Free 
(DFQF) market access to products from LDCs.  This is an area that some ASEAN members have 
already implemented, and will continue to impr ove, in accordance with the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration. WT/MIN(11)/26 
Page 2  
 
   
As strong supporters of the multilateral trading system, we reaffirm our commitment to the 
primacy of the WTO. The stable, transparent, incl usive, and rules-based structure of the WTO forms 
the backbone of global trade, and plays a significan t role in ASEAN's regi onal economic integration 
efforts. We reaffirm our priority in supporting and strengthening the WTO, which has helped to 
maintain and enhance trade flows, monitor the globa l trading environment, and keep protectionism in 
check. The WTO's role in safeguarding global trade from protectionism is even more significant in light of the challenging global macro-economic conditions. We stress that all forms of trade 
protectionism should be rejected, so that our ma rkets remain open to provide the conditions most 
conducive to growth.  
 
The ASEAN Ministers reaffirm our undertaking to  comply with WTO agreements and further 
efforts in ensuring transparency and predictability in implementing measures that impact on trade and 
investment. We also reaffirm our resolve to resist from raising new barriers to investment or to trade 
in goods and services, and we remain committed to taking steps to rollback protectionist or trade 
distorting measures introduced during the crisis.   
  
We will also work with members to strengthe n the WTO's capabilities to undertake regular 
monitoring of such measures in an objectiv e and comprehensive manner. We support the 
strengthening of the World Trade Organization to effect a stronger and bette r functioning multilateral 
trading system, including through enhanced particip ation, inclusiveness and transparency.  In this 
regard, we welcome the completion of the 4
th Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review (TPR) 
Mechanism, and the proposed improvements to the TPR process in support of transparency in 
members’ trade policies.     
We warmly welcome the accessions of new memb ers, Montenegro, the Russian Federation, 
Samoa and Vanuatu, which is testament to the im portance of the WTO and the multilateral trading 
system.   
 
__________