WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/72 
17 December 2011  
 
(11-6650) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
JORDAN 
 
Statement by Mr Fakhry Hazimeh 
Director of the Economic Bureau 
   Allow me at the outset to express the gratitude of the Government of Jordan for the efforts 
exerted by the WTO Secretariat and the Swiss aut horities in arranging this Ministerial Conference. 
 
 We meet today at the Eighth Ministerial Conf erence of the WTO at a time where the world 
economy continues to face difficulties generated by  the financial crisis which had struck the 
international community a couple of years ago.  
Jordan firmly believes that the responsibility of th is crisis is one that is collective in nature 
and therefore calls for a collective reaction from all w ith the aim to minimize or contain the impact of 
the pressing challenges.   It is a well-known fact that the world's econom ies have become closely interconnected due to 
a myriad of factors, an issue that has unified the overarching principle of economic stability for all.  
Economic stability and growth in any part of th e world has become essen tial for the growth and 
economic sustainability of the rest of the world economies.   Jordan stresses the need to strengthen the multilateral trading system, a system that has 
proven to be an extremely vital tool for regula ting our trade relations;  we all should remain 
committed to its principles and avoid protectionism , a matter that, should we fall into, would surely 
hinder the economic growth cycle furt her and render recovery impossible. 
  We deeply regret the impasse the Doha De velopment Round is witnessing, and welcome any 
proposals for advancing the Round, as we believe th at a well-balanced conclusion of the Round would 
bear positive implications for stimulating the global economy.  I am confident that we all share this 
vision, proven by the full engagement of the Member  States in the negotiations which led us to reach 
advanced stages.  We should urge ourselves as Members not to overlook the consequences of a 
failed DDA not only on WTO and MTS, but also to the global economy and world trade.  I hope when we meet again we will have the balanced p ackage that we all want, based on a constructive and 
efficient post-MC8 programme for DDA. 
 
 We are committed to the Single Undertaking as the main principle in this Round, while 
encouraging early harvest of the mature negotiation issues, especially those stimulating and enabling 
developing and least developing Members in international trade. 
  Jordan welcomes the recommendations regard ing the TRIPS non-violation and situation 
complaints, the extension for the acceptance of the Protocol amending the TRI PS, the extension of the 
e-commerce moratorium and the work programme cont ained therein.  In addition to the decisions WT/MIN(11)/ST/72 
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  related to LDCs, in the area of TRIPs, Services, and their accession process to the WTO.  Jordan also 
welcomes the decision related to Small Economies,  and the fourth review of the trade policy 
mechanism.   The persistent challenges facing the Net F ood Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs) due 
to the alarming high levels of food prices began tw o years ago and anticipated to continue, according 
to the projections in the OECD – FAO Agricultural outlook 2010-2019.  
Jordan as an NFIDC believes that WTO has a vital role to play in mitigating the impact of the 
food market prices and volatility on LDCs and NFIDCs and urges that the established work 
programme should bring recommendations  with solutions on this matter. 
  Jordan is a small recently- acceded Member with an econom y dependent on international 
trade.  Jordan joined WTO in the year 2000, a nd since then honouring its commitments, despite the 
extensive concessions made to join the Organizat ion as a recently-acceded Member, and at this 
juncture I would like to reiterate Jordan's commitment  to play an effective and active role within the 
WTO.   As a member of the RAMs Group, Jordan supports the communiqué  submitted reflecting the 
group's concerns on some aspects of the negotiations  within the DDA, and requests Member States to 
take them into considerati on during the negotiation process. 
 
 Jordan stresses the need for Member States to give due consideration to the special needs of 
developing countries, and particularly RAMs, no ting the extensive commitments made upon their 
accession to WTO.  RAMs should be accorded a specia l treatment in the negotiations to enable them 
to overcome the challenges that their economic sect ors have been facing due to the liberalization 
resulting from accession commitments. 
  Since Jordan is in the accession process to th e Government Procurement Agreement, we 
welcome the package which was adopted yesterda y on the revised Agreement and its annexes 
allowing for expanding access to government procur ement marks and opening  and modernizing the 
procurement policies.  In this regard, Jordan as a small developing country achieved advanced stage in 
its negotiations to adhere to this Agreement, Jord an would still seek special  flexibilities in accordance 
with its level of development to finali ze negotiations to adhere to the GPA. 
  On accessions issues, Jordan calls on Member s to work on expediting the accession process 
for States and separate customs territories, and strongly supports the request of Palestine, as a separate 
customs territory, for observer status in the WT O's General Council and its subsidiary bodies. 
  The Arab countries in the WTO are striving to play a more active and constructive role in the WTO as we realize the growing importance of the multilateral trading system.  There are 
12 WTO Arab Member States, and another seven Arab  countries seeking accession:  namely Algeria, 
Comoros, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen;   and we strongly urge WTO Member States to 
expedite and facilitate their accession. 
  Jordan supports the communiqué  from the Arab Group, and would like to highlight the 
importance of having the Arabic language as an offi cial WTO language, and calls on Member States 
to positively consider adding Arabic as a working la nguage in the WTO, as this will help in enhancing 
the contribution of Arab countries to the work of the WTO. 
  On a similarly important issue, Jordan  regrets that the application of the 
League of Arab States for observer status remains blocked, and reminds the esteemed Conference of  WT/MIN(11)/ST/72 
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  the necessity of extending an objective and even-han ded treatment for all IGOs' requests for observer 
status. 
 Finally, Jordan would like to welcome Samoa, Vanuatu, the Russian Federation, and 
Montenegro for joining the WTO.  
 We wish this Conference the success that we seek, and look fo rward to having a package for 
the benefit of all, carrying directions guiding our future works.  
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