. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/138 
17 December 2005 
 (05-6150) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
NEPAL 
 
Statement by the Honourable Buddhi Man Tamang
 
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies  
   I am honoured to represent His Majesty's Governme nt of Nepal for the first time as a Member 
at this Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization. 
 
 I would like to begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to the Government and the people 
of Hong Kong, China for hosting this sixth WTO Ministerial Conference and for the warm and generous hospitality extended to us.  With warm  greetings from His Majesty's Government and the 
people of Nepal, let me extend to you, Mr Chai rman, our congratulations on your unanimous election 
and best wishes for the success of this Conference. 
 
 As we welcome Saudi Arabia and Tonga as new Members in the family of World Trade Organization, it gives us satisfaction to note th at WTO has been moving ahead towards becoming a 
more inclusive organization.  We congratulate our new Members.  
 Nepal looks to the World Trade Organization not only as a vehicle for promoting global trade 
but also as an institution that ensures fair, just a nd inclusive trading regime where the concerns and 
aspirations of all the countries, small and big, rich  and poor, are well heard a nd listened.  We expect 
that a fair trading system would help us bring about a structural change in our economy with the 
promotion of trade which would stimulate growth a nd help us reduce poverty in our midst.  We are 
still waiting for that development dividend from the su ccessful conclusion of this round.  For us, that 
would be a true measure of the de velopment dimension, which would be able to correct the deficit in 
the existing international trading structure.   It is a fact that the least developed countries continue to be marginalized from the mainstream 
of world economy with a declining share in world trad e, investment and output.  It should be a matter 
of great concern to all of us.  In today's globali zed world, interdependence and inter-connectivity have 
intensified in an unprecedented manner.  We cannot re main aloof from each other.  If gains are to be 
reaped from the multilateral trading system in an equitable manner, there is no denying that the 
international rules guiding them should incorporate development-friendly provisions and rules which 
are conducive to promote the share of trade of vul nerable countries, thereby reversing the trend of 
marginalization of the least developed countries. We would like to be part of that globalizing trend, 
which is inclusive and also caters to the interests of the needy and the poor. 
  Low level of economic development, stru ctural bottlenecks and grinding poverty has 
seriously constrained the trading and development ca pabilities of the LDCs.  Many of us are in the 
very early stage of industrial development pr ocess.  Despite these inherent impediments and 
adjustment pains, it must be appreciated that we wa nt to be integrated into the international trading 
regime.  This is so because we are looking at the long-term gains.  Therefore, as collectively 
expressed by the LDCs during their Ministerial meeting in Livingstone, what we are looking for from WT/MIN(05)/ST/138 
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 the international community is not merely the rec ognition of the fact of our marginalisation, but a 
meaningful, substantial and substa ntive market access opportunities for our products.  My delegation 
would like to reiterate our long standing objective, as agreed in the Doha Work Programme, that all 
the LDCs should be provided with a binding comm itment to the duty-free and quota-free market 
access for all products with simple and flexible rules of origin.  That is the least that is expected from 
the development round though it is not sufficient.  It is well known that many of the LDCs would not 
be able to compete in the international market becau se of their supply side constraints.  For a country 
like Nepal the transaction cost is even higher w ith its natural handicap as a land-locked country.  
Therefore we call for a precise, special and differential treatment due to an LDC, which would help to create a level playing field for us to compete at the global market.  Similarly, commitments should be 
made on the movement of semi-skilled and unskilled labour under Mode 4 to give effect to the LDC 
modalities.  It is not understandabl e to us that there are restrictions and lack of access in the areas 
where there is a comparative advantage of the c ountries like ours, even when we have opened many 
of our services sectors.  
 In order to help promote supply side capabilities, we would like to see a strong mechanism 
and substantially enhanced resources for the integrat ed framework to be effective on the ground.  We 
also appreciate the recent initiatives of aid for trade and hope the clear involvement of the recipient 
countries from the conceptual stage for the establis hment of their effective operational modalities.  
Additionality, concretization and multi-year resour ce allocations are key to  the success of such a 
programme.  In this context, we appreciate the recent announcement of various programmes by many 
developed countries from this forum here and would appreciate receiving more details about their full 
modalities. We are all aware that it would pl ay a complementary role to the market access 
opportunities.   But let me once again reiterate here that  the effective market access opportunities and 
strengthening supply side capabilities are twin pillars  upon which rests the meaningful integration of 
the LDCs in the global trading system.  Without both of them, we cannot think of any sustainable basis of hope and promise for the least developed count ries in this era of cutthroat competition.   In 
our rush, we should not lose sight of the larger pict ure of the principle of equity, fairness and social 
responsibility.  Gains must be assured to all to make  the international trading regime sustainable and 
meaningful. 
 
 We would like to see a balanced and ambitious  outcome of this Ministerial Meeting with 
clarity and precision in its development content.  We hope that we go back from Hong Kong with a 
clear and forward-looking outcome that is both substa ntial and substantive, in order to give a strong 
signal of hope to our people back home.  The hope is that the current form of trade liberalization 
would finally take into account the fundamental principles of equity and inclusiveness.  It is time we 
make sure that WTO fully takes into account the in terests and concerns of even the most vulnerable 
group among its Members.  
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