. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/83 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6088) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
YEMEN 
 
Statement Circulated by HE Dr Khaled Rajed Sheikh Dawood
 
Minister for Industry and Trade  
 
(As an Observer) 
 
 
 On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Yemen, I would like to extend my sincere 
congratulations and appreciation to the Govern ment of Hong Kong, China, and the Organizing 
Committee for their excellent arrangements, hospita lity, and friendly reception.  Hong Kong, China, 
as we all would agree is an excellent venue for such an important international event. 
  I would like also to congratulate HE John Tsang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and 
Technology, for his election as Chairman of the WTO Sixth Ministerial Conference, and the 
Executive Bureau, whom I believe would lead this m eeting to a very successful conclusion.  I equally 
would like to congratulate the Director-General, his colleagues at the WTO Secretariat, and the General Council Chairman for their continued efforts and dedication for preparation of this important 
Conference. 
 
 The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference comes at a crucial juncture, as negotiations on many issues have made some progress, while others ne ed stronger political will to make the necessary 
progress to reach the Doha Development Agenda's  goals, as envisaged by the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration.  
 LDCs, in particular, are looking forward to more just settlement of many issues of interest to 
their under-developed economies.  Special and differential treatment, technical assistance and capacity-building, and accession are high on the agenda .  More attention is needed to address these 
issues and other LDCs concerns.  Livingstone, Za mbia LDCs Ministerial Declaration and LDCs 
negotiating positions pertaining to th e Doha Development Agenda need to be taken seriously, if LDCs 
are to be fully and justly integrated in the MTS. 
  As you are aware, Yemen, as an LDC, has a pplied for WTO membership in 2000 and had so 
far two working party meetings, the most recent w as on 3 October 2005.  Currently, we are preparing 
for the third meeting.  However, accession to the WT O, in particular, is of major concern to LDCs, 
Yemen included.  Emphasis on facilitating and accelera ting their accession has been repeated in many 
forums, declarations, initiatives and decisions, but rema ins difficult to achieve.  Different stakeholders 
in Yemen, as in other acceding countries, are worri ed on the prospects of their countries future, and 
we need to take their concerns into account in the accession process.  Therefore, support and 
understanding of our development partners during accession negotiations are very critical, and Yemen 
is looking forward for such valuable support.  Particularly, we seek our trading partners' 
understanding of Yemen's special trade, financia l and development needs, and hope to see this 
understanding reflected during our b ilateral and multilateral negotiations. 
 WT/MIN(05)/ST/83 
Page 2  
 
  We would like to take this opportunity to  congratulate The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for 
successfully concluding its accession, which we be lieve will have a positive impact on the accession 
of other Arab countries.  Meantime, we would like to emphasize the Amman Arab Ministerial 
Declaration, in respect to Arab countries' concerns during the DDA.  
 On this occasion, we would like to thank our development partners for their continued support 
to Yemen's endeavour to integrate in the global economy.  We equally appreciate the Integrated 
Framework programme, which we hope would channel more funds to implement the DTIS Action 
Plans for participating LDCs, including Yemen.  
 Finally, I sincerely wish this Ministerial C onference the success it deserves, and hope it will 
come up with the necessary decisions to move the negotiating agenda forward to reach its ultimate 
goal.  Such goal, however, needs to address the de velopment dimension and concerns of developing 
and LDCs, to earn the title of the "Doha Development Agenda".  
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