WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/L/852 
20 April 2012 
 (12-2085) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN – REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Communication from the Republic of South Sudan 
 
 
 The following communication has been receive d from the Minister for Commerce, Industry 
and Investment of the Republic of South Sudan.  
_______________ 
  
 On behalf of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, I have the honour to submit the 
application of the Government of South Sudan for observer status in the General Council of the World 
Trade Organization (WTO) and its subsidiary bodies.   In accordance with the Rules of Procedure fo r Sessions of the Ministerial Conference and 
Meetings and of the Genera l Council, I would like to state that it is  the intention of the Government of 
the South Sudan to prepare and initiate negotiations  for accession to the WTO Agreement in the near 
future, within a maximum period of five years.  Therefore, the observer status would assist the Government of Republic of South Sudan familiarize itself with the WTO, its rules and procedures. 
 
 I would be grateful if you could place this appli cation before the General Council, at its next 
meeting.  
_______________ 
 
 
OVERVIEW OF THE ECONOMIC POLICY AND FOREIGN TRADE REGIME 
OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This statement accompanies the request from the Republic of South Sudan for Observer 
Status in the General Council of the WTO and its s ubsidiary bodies.  The request from the Republic of 
South Sudan was addressed to the WTO Director-General on 23 March 2012.   
2. The purpose of this statement is to clarify that  the Republic of South Sudan requests Observer 
Status so as initiate negotiations to the WTO, pur suant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement 
establishing the WTO.  In providing this clarificat ion, this statement, pursuant to paragraph 4 of 
Annex 2 of the Guidelines for Observer Status for Governments in the WTO (WT/L/161), provides a brief description of the current economic and trade policies of the Republic of South Sudan and also 
clearly signals the path of future reforms.  De tails of these policies will be elaborated in the 
Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) following the establishment of a Working Party on the Accession of the Republic of South Sudan with standard Terms of Reference.   WT/L/852 
Page 2  
 
  II. THE COUNTRY  
3. On 9 July 2011, South Sudan gained its independence, as the " Republic of South Sudan".  On 
14 July 2011, at its 108
th Plenary Meeting, the United Nations General Assembly, on the 
recommendation of the UN Security Council of 13 July 2011, unanimously decided to admit the Republic of South Sudan to Membership in the Un ited Nations (A/RES/65/308.  See Annex 1).  The 
Republic of South Sudan is Africa's newest state and the 54
th Member of the African Union.  Detailed 
information on the Republic of South Sudan: its hi story, geographical setting, constitutional order, 
policies, programmes and laws, as they  are developing, are available at: http://www.goss.org/ .   
4. The Republic of South Sudan is a Least-developed Country (LDC).  The capital city is Juba.  
English is the official language.  The Republic of  South Sudan has a total land area of 619,745 square 
kilometres.  Based on the 2008 census, the current po pulation totals 8,260,490.  On its boundaries are: 
Sudan to the north, Ethiopia to the east, Uganda a nd Kenya to the southeast, Democratic Republic of 
Congo to the southwest and Central African Republic to the west.  
5. The climate is equatorial with high humidity  and rainfall. The rainy season varies but is 
generally between April and November. Temperat ures are moderate and vary depending on the 
season.  The terrain is mainly plain, with hilly ar eas characterized by thick equatorial vegetation and 
savannah grasslands. There are mountainous ranges along its border with Uganda. These mountainous 
ranges include Imatong, Didinga and Dongotona, with levels at more than 3,000 metres above sea 
level.  Natural forests and woodlands cover 29 pe r cent of the total land area of South Sudan.   
6. The River Nile is the dominant geographic f eature in South Sudan, flowing across the 
country. South Sudan is home to the Sudd, the worl d’s largest swamp, which covers a total area of 
30,000 square kilometres.   
7. The Republic of South Sudan has ten states. Th ey include Central Equatoria (Juba), Western 
Equatoria (Yambio), Eastern Equatoria, (Torit), Jong lei (Bor), Unity (Bentiu), Upper Nile (Malakal), 
Lakes (Rumbek), Warrap (Kuacjok), Western Bahr el Ghazal (Wau), and Northern Bahr el Ghazal (Aweil).   
III. CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER, DOMESTIC POLICIES AND FOREIGN RELATIONS 
8. In the unique circumstances of the recent em ergence of the Republic of South Sudan, 
although its policies, laws and institutions are fle dgling and in the process of formation, development 
and consolidation, the Repub lic of South Sudan is founde d upon and based on constitutional 
multiparty democracy, the rule of law and the ma rket economy.  The commitment to democracy, the 
rule of law and good governance, and a properly regulated market economy are absolute and 
irreversible.  On Thursday, 5 April, the Republic of South Sudan was unanimously accepted as the 
126
th Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).  
9. The Republic of South Sudan is committed to international cooperation for peace, prosperity, 
security and mutual co-existence, including with a ll its neighbours.  The Republic of South Sudan is 
committed to full respect for open and transparent government, implementation of affirmative action 
programmes and decentralised government.  
10. The Republic of South Sudan is fully committed to abide by the United Nations Charter and 
its Conventions, the African Union and other African Continental regional bodies, and to the principles, objectives and rules of the World Trad e Organization (WTO), account being taken of its 
status as a Least Developed Country.  WT/L/852 
 Page 3 
 
 
  IV. THE ECONOMY  
11. The Republic of South Sudan is  a post-conflict economy with all the associated challenges.  
The objective is to transform the economy of the Re public of South Sudan into a modern, efficient 
and competitive economy, contributing to the regiona l economy in East African, and also integrated 
to the rules-based global economy.  The cardinal objective of economic policy is to improve the 
welfare of its citizens, through domestic economic tr ansformation and diversification, trade expansion 
for rapid growth.  Equal economic opportunities will be combined with carefully targeted poverty 
reduction programmes.  At this time, the structur e of the economy is predominately rural-based and 
subsistence in nature.   
12. The currency in use is the South Sudan Pound (SSDG).   
13. In the banking sector , there are 30 commercial investment and agricultural banks operating in 
the Republic of South Sudan under regulation of the Bank of South Sudan (BoSS).  Commercial 
banks include Ivory Bank (1993), Nile Commerc ial Bank (2005), Buffalo Commercial Bank (2007), 
Bank of Ethiopia (2009), KCB Bank Group (2005) and Equity Bank (2009).   
14. Finance is a sector that is emergent and growing.  There are microfinance and microcredit 
institutions, including Sudan Microfinance In itiative, Bangladesh Rural Cooperation (BRAC), 
Savannah Farmers’ Cooperation ( SFC) and Finance Sudan.   
15. In the agricultural sector, there is great potentia l in the Republic of South Sudan.  There are 
82 million hectares in land surface.  Current estimates  indicate that more than half is suitable for 
agriculture.  Common agricultural products include pineapple, cotton, groundnuts, sorghum, millet, 
wheat, cotton, sweet potatoes, mangoes, pawpaw, sugarcane, cassava and sesame.   
16. In the area of livestock, cattle are estimated at  over eight million.  The majority population in 
indigenous communities is pastoralists.  There ar e millions of poultry, goa ts, pigs, horses, donkeys, 
sheep and other animals.   
17. In fisheries, fish species include Nile perch,  tilapia, catfish, mudfish, lungfish, moon fish 
(opah) and electric fish.    
18. Industry requires investment of resources and rapid expansion.  Currently, the largest 
manufacturing plant is Southern Sudan Beverage s Ltd, which produces beer and soft drinks. 
Manufacturing sectors, including suga r, textile, cement, fruit, vegetabl e and timber.  Many of these 
were destroyed during the war. The Ministry of  Commerce and Industry has prioritized agro-based 
industrialization, with a focus on fruit processi ng, cereal processing and production of livestock 
commodities.   
19. The principal mineral resources include petroleum, iron ore, gold, silver, copper, aluminium, 
coal, uranium, chromium ore, copper, zinc, mica, diamond, quartz and tungsten.   
V. FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT REGIME  
20. The Republic of South Sudan is in the pr ocess of originating and developing a WTO-
compliant trade policy of which the central purposes will be to:  
 Reduce and eliminate poverty and improve the welf are of the entirety of the people of the 
Republic of South Sudan, through rapid ec onomic growth, based on diversification, 
competition, trade openness and liberalizati on combined with appropriate companion 
domestic policies, such as the elimination of trade distortions and impediments to growth, WT/L/852 
Page 4  
 
  attraction and promotion of foreign investme nts, respect for intellectual property and 
support for the private sector as an engine for growth.   
 
 Contribute to the promotion of rapid a nd balanced regional development.   
 
 Contribute to and join in multilateral cooperativ e efforts for sustainable development.   
 
 Contribute to the reinforcement of the rules- based Multilateral Trading System, with full 
account taken of the status of the Republic of  South Sudan as a Least Developed Country.   
 
 Assign continued high sectoral priority focus on:  
 
o Infrastructure, particularly infrastructure for trade facilitation;  
o energy generation;  
o agricultural and rural development;  
o accountability and transparency in go vernment for good governance;  
o education; health;  
o social development with a gender focus;  
o security; and with,  
o horizontal focus on employment creation.   
 21. The Republic of South Sudan is a new country.  There are vast investment opportunities in a 
range of sectors such as roads and construc tion, housing, telecommunication, manufacturing 
pharmaceuticals, agriculture, power generation, mi ning, education, tourism and fisheries.   
22. The Government is taken stea dy and consistent specific steps to nurture an environment 
conducive to investment. These include the establis hment of institutions like the Ministry of 
Investment and South Sudan Investment Services as  well as development of investment laws.  These 
investment laws provide mutually beneficial non-discriminatory fiscal regimes, protection of industrial and intellectual property,  credible guarantee of legal secu rity, repatriation of profits and 
dividends, customs duties exemptions and reduc tion of bureaucracy to the essential efficient 
minimum.   
23. In February 2011, the government launched a Private Sector Development Programme 
encompassing investment climate reforms, small and medium enterprise development and access to finance.  The South Sudan Business Forum (SSBF) has been established to facilitate public-private 
sector dialogue.   
24. There is work in progress in the Ministries of Investment and Commerce and Industry to 
develop legislation to create more institutions  and to streamline business registration.   
25. As the on-going process of policy formulati on, enactment of laws and institutional 
development evolves, the Republic of South Suda n will welcome the strong and sustained support 
from WTO Members.  Current evidence is deeply encouraging from the:   
(a) European Union (EU) and its individual members;  
(b) The United States that has granted GSP to So uth and is considering the approval of 
eligibility for AGOA benefits;  
(c) The People's Republic of China; and,  
(d) Several others.    WT/L/852 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
26. The development of the trade policy of the Republic of South Sudan and its WTO 
negotiations will be motivated by openness and non-discrimination to all WTO Members for trade 
and investment partnerships so as to grow the economy, reduce poverty and transform the Republic of 
South Sudan into a modern, competitive economy, fu lly integrated into the rules-based Multilateral 
Trading System, and contributing to the regional economy of East Africa and Africa.  This work has 
only just begun and is in progress.  The elaboration of the trade policy of the Republic of South Sudan 
will be undertaken in an open, consultative process, assi sted by its partners in the Secretariat of the 
WTO, the International Trade Center (ITC), the Un ited Nations and the World Bank.  Other partners 
will be welcome.   
__________