./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/15 
13 December 2005 
 (05-5923) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
  
UNITED NATIONS 
 
MESSAGE OF THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, MR. KOFI ANNAN 
 
Delivered by Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General,
 
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  
 
  It is now four years since you vowed to place the needs and interests of developing countries 
at the heart of your work.  That landmark step was reaffirmed at Monterrey, Cancun and many other 
times since.  And at last September’s World Summit at the United Nations in New York, world leaders again pledged to ensure that developing coun tries could participate fully in the world trading 
system.  
 Development -- real gains in real peoples’ lives -- remains the primary benchmark for success 
of the Doha Round.  Whatever other smaller step s your negotiations achieve, development writ large 
is the standard against which your efforts will be judged.  
There have been some laudable initiatives to  advance this cause, and to address the 
marginalization of some developing countries – pa rticularly least-developed, landlocked and small-
island states – for example through special and diffe rential treatment.  But this is still not enough. 
 
While the European Union and G8 countries agreed on signifi cant increases in aid and debt 
relief, they did not set a clear, unambiguous date  for ending trade-distorting subsidies and giving 
market access, especially in agriculture.  Such subs idies significantly reduce the prices that farmers in 
developing countries receive for their crops, in a sector that is crucial for their sustenance and 
livelihoods. 
 Farmers and purveyors of other goods and services  in developing countries continue to be 
subjected to protectionism in the developed worl d in precisely those areas where they can be most 
competitive.  And while developing-country tariffs  are also problematic, these countries cannot be 
expected give up either revenues or leverage  without new and bette r export opportunities. 
 The LDCs in particular need secure, predictabl e access to markets, without duties and without 
quotas.  Land-locked countries need freedom of transi t for their goods.  All countries have an interest 
in minimizing red-tape and transaction costs, and in ensuring that technical and regulatory 
requirements do not exceed what is truly necessary to become insidious obstacles to trade.  And as new export opportunities are opened up, many poor c ountries will need help if they are to take 
advantage of them.  Aid for trade – aid to build in frastructure, create capacity and cover the costs of 
adjustment – should be considered an indispensable part of the Doha Round. 
 
Trade has been a critical force for development.  It has boosted prosperity, spurred innovation 
and brought people more choices.  It has contributed  to stability and predictability in international 
affairs, and to peaceful relations among nations. WT/MIN(05)/15 
Page 2  
 
 Today we have a chance to go further still.  But it seems that the development case for open, 
equitable trade is not yet won.  Polling by the Ge rman Marshall Fund has fou nd that farm subsidies, 
tariffs and protectionist policies enjoy some back ing in the United States and Europe, eroding support 
for a truly open and global trading system.  Trade liber alization has adjustment costs in rich countries, 
too.  Overcoming this political hurdle is essential for Doha to succeed. 
 
Rich countries will have to reject not just prot ectionism, but populism, too.  They will have to 
speak honestly to their people about the changing economies of the 21
st century, and about global 
interdependence and the fact that prosperity elsewhere  means prosperity and jobs at home.  They will 
have to help the vulnerable people in their societie s with training and other support.  And they will 
have to recognize that a complex network of bilatera l and regional trade agreements is not a substitute 
for an effective multilateral framework.  
Trade can galvanize our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  Trade 
liberalization that empowers people will find great support.  Trade policies that only enrich 
entrenched elites will continue to spark ferven t opposition.  I urge rich countries to make the 
necessary investment in poor-country markets.  This is not just a question of commercial 
opportunities.  It is about creating the broad envi ronment which is needed to improve the human 
condition.  
Previous trade rounds, like this one at this mome nt, have teetered on the edge before finally 
reaching agreement.  The lack of major gains here  in Hong Kong would be a severe disappointment 
for poor people throughout the world yearning to lift themselves out of poverty.  Now is not a time for 
brinkmanship.  It is a time to find common ground.   Progress has been made in the eleventh-hour run-
up to this conference.  Your duty is to forge th e political will needed to move forward in the days 
ahead.  I urge you, as a matter of urgency, to do wh at it takes to deliver on the great promises of the 
Doha Round. 
 
 
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