. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/117 
16 December 2011 
 (11-6868) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
ISRAEL 
 
Statement by H.E. Mr. Shalom Simhon 
Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour 
 
 
On behalf of the government of Israel, I wish  to congratulate the World Trade Organization 
and the director general for convening the 8th ministerial conference. 
 
As many before me have already mentioned, we  are convening today at crucial times to the 
world economic stability. The acute debt crisis curre ntly experienced in parts of the world and the 
tangible danger of sluggish global growth or possi bly even recession- must inform our deliberations 
and decisions here at the WTO.  
Israel sees today, as it has seen in the past, a crucial role for an open world trading system, 
based upon principles of transparency, non-discrimination and gradual liberalization.   
This is particularly important for a small me mber such as Israel that relies heavily on the 
competitiveness of its foreign trade to sustain its growth.  
 
This is not to say that free trade and imports  are the sole solution in all cases and to all 
problems. The government retains a key responsibility to ensure that trade policy does not excessively 
jeopardize sensitive industries and sectors. To that end, targeted mitigating measures must be taken. 
Since the decision to liberalize the Israeli economy in  the 1990s the government in Israel constantly 
aims to provide suitable response to these challenges. 
 
As may be evident from the important periodical secretariat reports - the concern in resorting 
to defensive trade measures exists, and we must be vigilant and ensure that this trend to limit trade 
does not become widespread.  
As for the Doha Round negotiations- It is possi ble that the time has come to consider new 
approaches in order to advance the round.  
Israel continues to support the mandate agreed in Doha in 2001. In addition, we recommend 
continuing and basing our work on the progress alre ady attained and documented during a decade of 
hard work.  
 
Israel does not rule out new approaches for th e conduct of the negotiations, and it is possible 
that particular parts of the mandate could gain priority over other parts. 
 
Israel accords great importance to the revision of the government procurement agreement, to 
which we are members since the 1980s, and the accession of new countries. The joint ministerial 
declaration issued yesterday by the parties to th is agreement is a testimony to an immense and WT/MIN(11)/ST/117 
Page 2  
 
  successful joint effort by the Parties this is a str ong and clear signal that we now have an improved set 
of rules and expanded market access commitmen ts regarding the public procurement. 
  
The WTO has devoted in recent months a lot of attention to bilateral trade accords and 
regional trade agreements.  
 
Those agreements cannot replace the WTO, and without a doubt, they pose challenges to the 
WTO which we should confront.  
Before concluding, please allow me to warm ly congratulate those countries who have 
completed their respective processes of accession- M ontenegro, Samoa, and of course- the Russian 
Federation.  
We look forward to the prompt completion of  the various ratification processes and to 
officially welcome the acceding members to the WTO as soon as possible. 
 
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