. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/66 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6158) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
MACAO, CHINA 
 
Statement by Mr Francis TAM Pak Yuen
 
Secretary for Economy and Finance  
   I have the honour of representing the Govern ment of Macao, China at this Seventh WTO 
Ministerial Conference.  My delegation and I w ould like to thank the Swiss Government and the 
WTO Secretariat for the impressive organization of this Conference. 
  At the Fourth Ministerial Conference, WTO Members agreed on adopting the ambitious Doha Developing Agenda designed to be a comp rehensive package incorporating all aspects of 
trade - from liberalization on agriculture, non-agricu ltural market access and se rvices to other trade-
related matters such as trade facilitation, rules, TRI PS and environment.  But, most important of all, 
and in fact, the cornerstone in this DDA, is th e promise to address the needs and expectations of 
developing and least developed Me mbers in all negotiation frontiers. 
  Now, eight years have passed.  We have made good progress in gathering the different stances of Members, and grasped the impediments th ereto.  At this juncture, we are committed to 
conclude a deal in 2010.  The urgent tasks for all WTO Members at this moment are to expedite 
negotiations and demonstrate more flexibility to narrow the difference s.  In this context, Macao, 
China remains supportive of the multilateral trading system.   Without doubt, agriculture is the orbit of  all negotiations.  Macao, China recognizes the 
enormous benefit it will avail to the millions of  farmers in the developing world upon a successful 
outcome of agriculture negotiations.  In any event,  the consequence of agriculture negotiations will 
have a ripple effect on every other issue at stake.   On non-agricultural market access, Macao, Chin a underscores that market liberalization has 
to be sustainable, with steady and progressive re duction of tariff and non-tariff barriers.  In such 
respect, Macao, China supports the tariff reduction an d expansion of the binding coverage on the basis 
of development needs, as a contribution to  a fruitful outcome in NAMA negotiations. 
  Another important area of negotiations is  Services.  Despite the current impasse, 
Macao, China stresses its importance to our economy  as it is essentially the key engine for future 
development.  Nevertheless, across all developi ng Members, many still need the policy space to 
undertake reform in the budding Services sector.  In this respect, Macao, China affirms the principle 
of progressive liberalization and tables a far more extensive revised offer, which is commensurate with our market situation a nd development requirements. 
  Indeed, the late financial crisis in 2008 reminds  us once again that the world is inextricably 
linked together, particularly on the economic front.  This financial turmoil, which emerged as a sub 
prime loan crisis and stemmed from sophisticated fi nancial markets, is considered to be the most WT/MIN(09)/ST/66 
Page 2  
 
  challenging economic problem in recent times.  Wo rld trade plunged sharply, while worst hit were 
those trade-dependent economies that encounter ed significant reduction in global demand. 
  Such circumstances definitely require policy makers  to be agile and responsive.  Over the past 
year, governments and central banks around the worl d have rolled out many stimulus plans to save 
struggling economies.  Macao, China, being a small open economy in itself, was set to be 
affected - real GDP dec lined for three quarters in a row, exports of goods dropped further and the 
number of visitor arrivals went down.  To curb such trends, the objectives of the Government of 
Macao, China were to fortify the local job mark et by bolstering SMEs and shore-up the banking 
sector. 
 
 One year on, the world economy seems to have  bottomed out.  Macao, China is also gaining 
restorative momentum together with other economie s.  Nonetheless, the outlook remains uncertain 
and substantial risks remain.  The Government of Macao, China is prudently optimistic about 
economic prospects but shall keep a close eye on any rapid changes in the global environment. 
 
 After all, the positive side of the crisis is that it might help draw countries closer.  These 
difficulties may become an important milestone, if  all WTO Members seize the opportunity to agree 
on a deal that may answer the needs of the developi ng world.  Macao, China shall maintain its support 
of the multilateral trading system and welc ome progress in the ongoing WTO negotiations. 
 
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