. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/50 
16 December 2011 
 (11-6608) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original: English 
 
  
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 
 
Statement by H.E. Ms Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi 
Minister of Foreign Trade 
  
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to participate in the highest gathering of the WTO.  
Given the urgency of the global challenges we are f acing, our meeting represents an issue of utmost 
importance.  Circumstances are always changing, so it is crucial that institutions like the WTO 
continue to adapt to new realities.  
Keeping in mind that the WTO provides a cont ractual framework within which governments 
can open their economies to international compe tition through trade on the basis of mutual gain, 
fairness and predictability, governments are committe d to providing their trading partners with 
information on their trade policies through periodic notifications.  The UAE had gone further than its 
WTO commitments by providing a voluntary trade policy review in 2010.  
The transparency embodied by notifications is central to the WTO's mission of providing its 
Members with as much certainty as possible.  This is a key issue that governments must address if 
they hope to continue to capitalize, as in the p ast, from effective institutional, legal and political 
arrangements that have helped millions of peopl e around the world benefit from trade and emerge 
from poverty.  
Nations are constantly being tested in de fining and implementing common strategies in 
response to the global challenges they encounter.  In this context, the UAE is particularly concerned 
about the multiplication of protectionism measures facing its exportations, which represent a serious 
obstacle to its economic competitiveness .  A core challenge of our time, then, is to manage change in 
a manner that avoids conflict.  
The multilateral trading system of the future is what the Members of the WTO make it to be.  
Accordingly, the UAE firmly believes that we must  continue removing obstacles to trade to maintain 
the function of global commerce as an engine of gr owth, of jobs, of deve lopment, and of poverty 
reduction.  In this regard, I kindl y draw your attention to the UAE in itiative to liberalize raw materials 
and aluminium sectors and call upon your  support to adopt this initiative. 
 
Moreover, the international trading system will have to take better account of global value 
chains moving forward.  Geographical fragmentation is leading to a structural change in international 
trade, shifting from the old theory of "trade in goo ds" to a new "trade in tasks" or "Made in the 
World" paradigm.  Old concepts such as "country of origin" or "resident versus non-resident" are 
losing some of their analytical relevance in inte rnational economics, particularly when measuring 
bilateral trade balances. 
 WT/MIN(11)/ST/50 
Page 2  
 
  More broadly, we will also need to change our negotiating mentality.   We should adopt a 
more integrated approach to trade obstacles wh ere the borders between goods and services become 
more permeable;  where tariff and non-tariff measures are viewed in an integrated way, where the 
linkages between trade, investment, competition, co mpetitiveness and sustainability are strengthened. 
 
The long-term fate of the multilateral trading sy stem will rely on our ability to effectively and 
cooperatively tackle its major barriers and issues.  One of the challenges we must prioritize is the 
delivery of the objectives of the Doha Round.  For its part, the UAE is fully determined to push ahead 
in order to successfully  conclude the Round. 
 
 We believe that the question is not whether the Doha Round is dead or alive.  The question is 
rather whether WTO Members remain committed to  the objectives enshrined in the Doha Agenda 
and, more broadly, in the foundations of the Orga nization itself.  My country, the UAE, calls on all 
WTO Members to facilitate the accession proce ss for developing countries, particularly for 
Arab countries and to make concrete steps to genera te trust in the ability of the WTO family to move 
from the concept of multilateral trade keeping to  the concept of multilateral trade enforcing. 
 
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