. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/105 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6077) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 
 
Statement by HE Ms Sheika Lubna Al-Qasimi
 
Minister of Economy and Planning  
   I am so honoured to join you all in Hong Kong to work together for the progress of the Doha 
Development Agenda. 
 
 Let me start by thanking our host, the Government and people of Hong Kong, China, for the outstanding organization of this Conference and for the warm reception and hospitality.  My thanks 
also go to HE John Tsang, Mr Pascal Lamy the Di rector-General of the WTO, HE Amina Mohammad 
the Chairwoman of the General Council and the Secr etariat of the WTO for their tireless efforts in 
making this Conference possible. 
 
 Four years ago in Doha, we launched the Doha Development Age nda, in which we all 
committed to an ambitious but achievable mandate.  There was a shared sense of urgency which seems to have been lost.  
 Indeed, our negotiations to date have dem onstrated the existence of major differences 
between Members, but that needs to be changed.  There comes a time when rhet oric has to be backed 
by action.   We face a choice here in Hong Kong:  either we are ready to run the risk of a new failure and adding doubts to the prevailing uncertainties;  or we continue to strengthen the multilateral trading 
system and be bold enough to take the realistic deci sions that balance the interests of the Members of 
the WTO.   By analyzing the current state-o f-play of the negotiations, it is clear that there is no sufficient 
level of convergence among Members on the leve l of ambition in the key areas of negotiations. 
 
 Consequently, we agree with the approach of  "recalibrating" expectations, and considering 
this Ministerial Conference as an intermediate  stage before we go to the full modalities phase. 
  The merit of such an exercise is to allow cap italization and crystallization of the progress that 
has been achieved since the meeting in Doha. 
  To deliver consensual outcomes, we n eed to agree on a positive connotation of the 
proportionality which might be needed across the key areas of negotiations, namely agriculture, 
NAMA and services.  
 All of us agree that agriculture is the key th at can unlock the negotiations.  We believe that 
meaningful progress made in this important ar ea would generate the necessary momentum for WT/MIN(05)/ST/105 
Page 2  
 
 progress in other areas.  In the light of this comm only accepted analysis, we have to show greater 
respect of all positions and proposals and find crea tive ways to accommodate different interests. 
  With sufficient political will, we can conso lidate all the progress made so far with the 
commitment to deliver full modalities, including nu merical targets for the sensitive issues, shortly 
after our meeting in Hong Kong. 
  On NAMA negotiations, we reiterate that nego tiations should aim at substantially reducing 
tariff peaks and eliminating tariff escalation whil e observing the principle of "less than full 
reciprocity" to genuinely safeguard the interests of  developing countries.  The UAE remains flexible 
to examine all the proposals on the table with the aim of adopting solutions that are acceptable and 
mutually satisfactory for all.   Concerning the sectoral component, the UA E has submitted a proposal on raw materials 
including that of primary aluminium.  We consid er this initiative as a salient example of cooperation 
and convergence between the interests of both de veloped and developing countries in the WTO. 
  It is a win-win proposal given the fact th at duty-free raw materials is essential for the 
competitiveness of developed countries manufacturing businesses;  while the same materials considered part of the strategic exports and emerging industries of the developing countries. 
 
 For the UAE, the elimination of all duties on primary aluminium constitutes a strategic 
objective, we therefore wish that due consider ation will be given to our sectoral initiative. 
  Having said that, we remain convinced that pa rticipation in sectoral initiatives shall be on a 
voluntary basis so as to provide necessary and leg itimate flexibilities allowing developing countries to 
pursue industrialization policies that are supportive of their development goals. 
  Services negotiations are also a key issue fo r the UAE.  We have submitted our offer in 
July 2005.  We have considered all requests from WTO Members in drafting our offer, and it clearly 
improves our current commitments.  
 We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership between our domestic services industry 
and international service providers.  We also stress  that the agreed guidelines and procedures for the 
negotiations in services continue to rema in the benchmark of the negotiations. 
  Moreover, we believe that every Member must be able to retain control over the commitments 
it will make, particularly in the sensitive areas to its economy. 
  Finally, we are pleased to welcome Saudi Arabia and Tonga to the WTO community.  We 
hope that it will be possible to speed up and facilitate the accession process of the remaining 
candidates.  
 I would like to reiterate again the firm co mmitment of the UAE delegation to cooperate 
closely with other Members to ensure a successful  outcome of the negotiations.  Let us capitalize on 
the spirit of unity that made the launch of th e DDA so historic.  We have no other choice. 
 
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