. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/11 
15 December 2011  
 
(11-6547) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
MALAYSIA 
 
Statement by the Hon. Mustapa Mohamed 
Minister of International Trade and Industry 
  A. O
VERVIEW OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC SCENARIO  
 We are meeting at a time when the world economy is facing unprecedented 
challenges. 
 Trade has grown more slowly than expected in recent months.  World trade growth 
forecast for 2011 has been revised to 5.8 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 
6.5 per cent. 
 In light of this challenging time, the greatest mistake countries can make is to look 
inwards and slide towards protectionism.  There has been an increase in new trade 
restrictions.  We hope that these measure s are temporary in nature and that 
governments demonstrate responsibility a nd commitment in dismantling them and 
discontinuing this negative trend. 
 As a trade dependent country, Malaysia too is not immune to the negative impact of 
the economic and financial crisis.  However,  we believe that a conducive, facilitative, 
business and regulatory environment are critical factors that would help steer the nation out of the economic and financial turm oil.  Thus, Malaysia recently introduced 
several liberalization measures and relaxed restrictions on foreign investment in 
key services sectors.  Despite the challenges we face, my Government will continue 
to resist protectionism and refrain from raising barriers to international trade. 
B. E
NHANCING THE WTO 
 Malaysia believes that the WTO's primary role as the custodian of multilateral trade 
must be further strengthened and upheld. 
 To effectively serve the interests of its Me mbers, the roles and functions of existing 
Councils and Committees can be further st reamlined and strengt hened to be more 
responsive, relevant and adaptive to global issues and challenges. 
 In this connection, Malaysia fully s upports an exchange of views towards 
confidence-building and understanding am ong Members regarding the objectives, 
contents and policy approaches underpinning  regional initiatives and hopefully build 
coherence and complementarity between the RTAs and the WTO. WT/MIN(11)/ST/11 
Page 2  
 
   
C. D
OHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA  
 Allow me now to share my views on the Doha Round.  The credibility of the WTO is 
at stake.  Multilateral trade liberalizati on has stalled.  Bilateral and regional 
preferential trade agreements has been the or der of the day, depriving smaller trading 
nations from the benefits of trade liberalization. 
 Despite the setbacks and the impasse, we should not give up.  We need to find a 
breakthrough. 
 We need to reduce our rhetoric and look at new approaches in our collective attempt 
to conclude the Doha negotiations includi ng a review of the single undertaking.  
While there is still apprehension about moving away from the single undertaking, we should be realistic about possible options.  In this regard, Malaysia sees possibility to 
advance pragmatically in specific areas of the Doha work programme where progress 
can be achieved, and where consensus ag reements might be reached in accordance 
with the Doha mandate.  We should focu s on harvesting the low-hanging fruits to 
achieve results in the short term and find compromise on doable areas.  Malaysia believes that trade facilitation is well advan ced and could be possible candidate for an 
agreement. 
 Two thirds of the Members are from the developing world, thus the centrality of the 
development dimension in th e Doha mandate needs to be preserved.  Issues of 
concern to LDC Members need to be given priority. 
 We underscore the commitment made in Hong Kong on Duty-Free 
Quota-Free (DFQF) market access for all products originating from least developed 
countries.  For Malaysia, we are already providing DFQF access for more than 90 per 
cent of products from LDCs. 
 2012 will be a difficult year.  It is crucial that we have a clear work programme and 
continue to build trust amongst ourselves as we negotiate.  We must break the 
deadlock and identify the low-hanging fruits and harvest them in 2012. 
 
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