. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/126 
17 December 2005 
 (05-6137) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 
 
Statement by HE Dr Errol Cort
 
Minister of Finance and Economy  
   Let me begin by thanking you and the Governme nt and people of Hong Kong, China, for the 
excellent meeting facilities, the wonderful logisti cal arrangements and the superb hospitality extended 
to my delegation at this august gathering.  Long af ter the conclusion of this Conference, the facility 
and the accompanying arrangements will be indelibly imprinted on our minds.   Over the last few days, we have heard the ba ttle cry from these halls to all who would listen. 
It has been short and succinct and it simply says: "be pr epared".  Be prepared:  to take some risks;  to 
improve the rules;  and to level the playing field in the quest for free and fair trade and to preserve 
development at the heart of the Doha Round. 
  Antigua and Barbuda has heard and heeded that battle cry and I hereby reaffirm our 
commitment to work assiduously to address the issues  at hand.  I do so secured in my belief that the 
Doha Development Round provides Members of the WTO with an opportunity to make trade an 
essential tool for economic growth and development. 
  For a country to benefit fully from trade it n eeds to put in place the necessary structures to 
nurture the seeds of economic growth and developm ent.  It is against this backdrop that my 
Government has embraced a path of macroeconomic and social reform.  Our reform agenda is well 
known: fiscal consolidation, reducing the deficit while establishing an efficient tax system; the 
establishment of a priority public sector invest ment programme;  the creation of an enabling 
environment for the private sector to flourish;  social protection of the most vulnerable in our society; and legal reform.   My Government's goal is to increase Antigua  and Barbuda's attractiveness as a place to do 
business, with good governance and transparency as the building blocks of the programme.  
Concomitant with this are ongoing efforts to re duce economic vulnerabilities, eliminate barriers to 
competitive global trade and investment, increase competitiveness in the private sector, improve 
domestic employment, and enhance our capacity for sustainable growth in the face of external circumstances. 
 
 This notwithstanding, we are a small, vulnera ble, highly open economy, but we recognize the 
inextricable link between trade and economic developm ent.  Without the former, the benefits to be 
derived from the latter, such as improving the standa rd of living of our people will be severely 
diminished.  
 As small, vulnerable economies, we ther efore require flexibility and policy space for 
implementing the provisions and commitments of various WTO agreements.  We need longer 
transitional periods for implementation and fair ma rket access for our products and services.  The WT/MIN(05)/ST/126 
Page 2  
 
 prospect that my nation could be forced into liberalization of tariffs without a suitable time frame and 
without the necessary flexibility to institute and comple te needed tax reforms is indeed daunting.  The 
precedent exists for allowing such fl exibility commensurate with our sma ll share of world trade.  This 
is already a mandate of the WTO based on that  understanding of "less than full reciprocity". 
 
 The flexibilities available in paragraph 8 of the General Council Deci sion of 31 August 2004 
are simply not sufficient for our specific needs.  As  a part of the plan of action resulting from this 
Ministerial Conference, all WTO Members need to  set a roadmap in NAMA that recognizes the needs 
of small, vulnerable economies based on their share of  world trade.  We are not all equally endowed, 
nor do we have equal size and levels  of development.  This fact, must never be forgotten and must be 
specifically accounted for in this Round. 
  In 2003, Antigua and Barbuda's services export in  value terms was in the order of 900 to 1. 
Services today contribute over 80 per cent to our gr oss domestic product.  Given our relatively smaller 
manufacturing and agricultural base, the services negotiations are extremely important for Antigua 
and Barbuda, since the services sector present one of the greatest opportunities for economic progress 
in this the Doha Development Round.   For progress in the negotiations in services,  we need all WTO Members to make quality 
offers that address constructively the requests of tr ading partners in a commercially meaningful way. 
Major trading nations must lead by example through th e offers that they make, thus allowing others to 
commit further for the mutual benefit of all. 
  In the same vein, we must also preserve the i ndividual right of countries to regulate domestic 
sectors in accordance with interna tional best practices in pursuit of their own developmental goals.  
We face great challenges in our diversification effort s to remain world competitive.  Nevertheless, we 
continue to believe in a rules-based trading syst em because we know that our developmental goals 
should be protected in such a system.  All WTO Memb ers despite their size and levels of development 
must respect the rules of the multilateral trading system.   We are indeed pleased with the progress made in trade facilitation and look forward to further advancements, including technical assistance th at will allow all Members to participate more 
effectively in this important process. 
  As a small, vulnerable economy, we also look  forward to working until the end of the Round 
under the rubric of paragraph 35 of the Draft Minister ial Text.  We urge that all Members take into 
consideration our concerns in rules and in TRIPS negotiations. 
 
 Finally, we welcome the Aid for Trade Initiative and further urge that it provides real and tangible benefits towards growth and developmen t.  For Antigua and Barbuda, success in this 
Ministerial Conference means keeping developmen t as the focus in the current negotiations and 
throughout the Round.  
__________