. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/50 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6108) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   Spanish 
 
  
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
 
Statement by Luis Manuel Piantini
 
Ambassador to the WTO  
   On behalf of the Government of the Domi nican Republic, we thank the Swiss Government 
and the Canton of Geneva for the excellent organizat ion of this Seventh Ministerial Conference.  We 
should also like to express our sincere gratitude to the WTO Secretariat, its Director-General, 
Mr Pascal Lamy, and to the Chair of the General Co uncil, Ambassador Mario Matus, for their efforts 
in preparing this Conference.  The Dominican Repub lic has always believed in the advantages of an 
equitable and fair multilateral trading system b ased on strong rules and taking into account the 
interests of developing countries, and this is why we support the holding of this Ministerial 
Conference, which also provides an opportunity to review the functioning of the WTO and to 
strengthen certain aspects of the system that need to be improved. 
  This Ministerial Conference is taking place eight years after the initiation of the Doha Development Round and in the midst of the worst gl obal financial and economic crisis since the great 
depression.  The severity of this crisis, which bega n in the developed economies, has been felt even 
more acutely by small economies such as that of  the Dominican Republic, with losses in production, 
increased unemployment and poverty.  Small economies,  which are all the more vulnerable to climate 
change and external shocks because they are open and closely integrated into the international 
economy through their trade, tourism and remittances.   A feature of this crisis has been the significant decline in the flow of private credit, which has 
fed back into the crisis, adversely affecting the supply of goods and services and the financing of 
trade.  Small and vulnerable economies have been doubly affected through current and 
balance-of-payments capital accounts, whose effects have been felt in losses for over five years and 
for almost a decade in terms of development.  Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that the 
Dominican Republic has withstood the severity of the crisis, complying with its WTO obligations 
without resorting to protectionist measures that would also affect the flow of international trade and 
the competitiveness of other economies.   It is indisputable that, in the light of e xperience during this crisis, multilateral financing 
institutions should create permanent automatically tr iggered mechanisms to allow Member countries 
to offset the declining flow of private credit, whic h reduces liquidity in intern ational trade.  In this 
respect, the WTO could make a significant contributio n to a rapid end to the crisis, alleviating the 
liquidity constraints in least developed Member countries, by increasing the amount of Aid for Trade resources and accelerating their disbursement in or der to improve export structures and marketing 
channels.  We also consider it crucial that pr ogress continue to be made with the Small and 
Vulnerable Economies Work Programme, both in th e Committee on Trade and Development and in 
the other negotiating groups to which the Group of  Small and Vulnerable Economies has submitted 
proposals. WT/MIN(09)/ST/50 
Page 2  
 
   One favourable result of the crisis has been proof that compliance with the rules of this 
Organization by the majority of Members has acted as a buffer against exacerbation of the crisis, ensuring that the global flow of production and trade ha ve not also been affected by the application of 
restrictive measures.  This is why we support th e WTO's continued monitoring of measures taken by 
its Members that may introduce distortions or restri ct international trade, allowing it to maintain 
constant supervision over areas within its competence. 
  We consider that the best contribution whic h the WTO Members can make to resolving the 
global economic crisis is to reach a successful conclusion to the Doha Round as soon as possible, 
consolidating the liberalization commitments of its  Members and meeting the original objective of 
promoting the development of the least developed thr ough fair and equitable trade.  This is why we 
cannot fail to express our disappointment that, eigh t years after the Round was launched, we have 
been unable to achieve positive results.  We must recognize that considerable progress has been made, 
that we are very close to a conclusion and that  the only thing needed in the negotiations is a 
demonstration of the political will expressed by the wo rld's leaders at various summits held since the 
beginning of the crisis.  In this connection, we must  stress that in order to reach a safe haven we need 
a negotiating process that is truly multilateral, transpar ent and inclusive, with the full participation of 
all Members.   It is important to stress that what has already been negotiated must be preserved.  Consequently, the basis for continuing and concl uding the negotiations on agriculture and market 
access for non agricultural products must be the dr aft modalities circulated in December 2008 by the 
Chairs of both negotiating groups.  These texts are a reflection of years of negotiation and have 
achieved a delicate balance between Members' rights and commitments.  We wish to emphasize that 
they both include special treatment for small and vulnerable economies and that this should not be 
reopened.  It is necessary to finalize what has yet to be agreed in the texts and in this respect we wish 
to underline the importance for the Dominican Republic of establishing a special safeguard 
mechanism in the agricultural sector , exclusively for developing countries, and with special treatment 
for small and vulnerable economies to protect dom estic production from sudden surges in imports or 
rapid plunges in international prices.   As regards the Organization's internal manage ment, we think that a process of reflection and 
discussion should begin in the General Council with a view to enhancing the transparency of the 
Organization's work.  This would undoubtedly help us to hold better debate s and in the negotiating 
processes.   Regarding regional trade agreements, the Do minican Republic considers that far from 
weakening the multilateral system these help to expand and strengthen gl obal trade.  If such 
agreements have multiplied in recent years, this  is precisely because the Doha Round has not 
concluded within the allotted time.  This is why we  cannot share the view that such agreements should 
become multilateral as developing countries cannot be penalized for the failure to make progress in 
the Doha Round negotiations or for having unilaterally taken liber alization measures that have 
benefited the expansion of  international trade. 
 
 Lastly, we wish to reaffirm the Dominican Re public's commitment to continue striving to 
achieve a prompt conclusion to the Doha Developm ent Round and at the same time to establishing an 
equitable multilateral trading system through which we  shall achieve better living standards for all our 
peoples. 
 
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