. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/108 
17 December 2011  
 
(11-6821) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
  
CAPE VERDE 
 
Statement H.E. Mr. José Luís Monteiro 
Ambassador, Permanent Representative 
 
 
At the outset, I would like to congratulate Vanuatu, Samoa, the Russian Federation and 
Montenegro on their accession to the WTO.  
 
Cape Verde associates itself with  the statements made on behalf of the African Countries, the 
Small and Vulnerable Economies, and the ACP c ountries, and has adhered to the ministerial 
declarations of 15 December 2011 by the Informal Group of Developing Countries and by the Friends 
of Development, and to the 16 December 2011 Comm uniqué of the Meeting of Ministers and Heads 
of Delegation of the Recently Accessed Member s. These statements and documents converge 
extensively in the assessment they express on key issu es of the agenda of this Conference, which is 
very meaningful.  
It has been said that "The WTO is not Doha".  This is true, and it is thus in all our 
acknowledged interest to strengthen and improve th e work of all the Organization's bodies and to 
ensure its regular monitoring so that can be pur sued, to our benefit, the primary goals of the 
multilateral trading system.  
We must deeply regret, however, the current  impasse in the effort to achieve a single 
undertaking for the Doha development agenda.  Ten years ago already, the centrality of development 
to the success of the system as a global human e ndeavour was clear to our ministers in Doha and 
today, its essentiality is imposing itself upon us almost on a daily basis. 
 
We nevertheless dare to hope that all the Orga nization's members now regret this impasse and 
that the encouraging signs that we have recently  seen, though limited as yet, may augur for renewed 
effort guided by a forward-looking spirit of comp romise that could lead in due course to the 
successful conclusion of the Doha mandate.  The draft decisions and policy guidelines adopted by 
consensus at the General Council of WTO on 30 Nove mber 2011 are encouraging indications in that 
direction, including with respect to the LDCs; cotton;   the key issue of preferential and differentiated 
treatment; aid for trade; and even - though only, as ye t, to a limited extent - the kind of attention that 
the integration of small and vulnerable economi es in the multilateral trading system deserves. 
 
The central element of political guidance brought to this Conference lies in the combination 
of the commitment to " work actively, in a transparent and inclusive manner, towards a successful 
multilateral conclusion of the Doha Developmen t Agenda in accordance with its mandate " and the 
statement that " any agreements reached, at any time, have to respect fully the development component 
of the mandate ". 
 WT/MIN(11)/ST/108 
Page 2  
 
  The inclusiveness of the consultations is a challenge of particular importance to the 
(unfortunately) numerous small permanent missions, and we therefore call for the assurance that practical, creative solutions will be sought for to al low them to follow the different avenues of work 
and of negotiation and to participate, to the extent possible, in these processes. 
 
In the framework of the provisions of paragra ph 47 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, 
dealing with the relationship between the major prin ciple of the single undertaking and the possibility 
of implementing agreements achieved meanwhile, as  well as the relationship between the primary 
Doha mandate and possible complementary approach es that might be multilaterally agreed upon, are 
issues which will call for wisdom and ethics so that  genuine progress can be made in a climate of 
trust. 
 
Having recently - in 2008 - become a member of WTO, Cape Verde is aware of the 
advantages that accrue to it from membership in th e Organization; the benefits, while still modest, are 
already palpable, among others in the areas of trade facilitation and of  institutional capacity-building 
for trade, within the administration and the private s ector.  In that context, the Government of Cape 
Verde welcomes the good will and competence releva nt WTO institutions have demonstrated in 
carrying on cooperation activities in the benefit of the country.  In Cape Verde as in any other 
member, the efficiency of the results of coopera tion will nevertheless be always conditioned by the 
quality of the grand multilateral framework we ar e now engaged in making succeed.  Our wish and 
our hope is then that common sense and the art of co mpromise will prevail as we pursue this common 
goal. 
 
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