. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/13 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6070) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
AUSTRALIA 
 
Statement by the Honourable Simon Crean (MP
) 
Minister for Trade  
   There are three issues that I would like to touch on in the time available. 
 
 The first is the vital link between trade and development. 
  Trade liberalization is not enough for developing  countries in itself.  There is no point in 
opening markets if those countries are not compe titive enough or productive enough to take advantage 
of the market openings.  And for them capacity bui lding is an essential link, a key corollary for the 
work that we do in market liberalization. 
 
 That is why we in Australia are pleased to participate by significantly increasing our 
commitment to the WTO's fund for Aid for Trade programme and also our contribution recently announced to the Advisory Centre for WTO Law.  
 This capacity building is essential to equip deve loping countries with the ability to undertake 
the negotiations.  There is of course a broader c oncept of capacity building that defines a nation's 
productivity.  And this too is a task on which we must commit ourselves to going forward.   We are pleased to be able to engage with neighbours in the South Pacific through Pacer Plus 
and it was also an essential ingredient in conc luding the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement between 
ourselves and New Zealand. 
  The second point is that trade itself matters.  And so concluding Doha is the essential task for us in 2010.  It matters because trade is an economic stimulus, a stimulus that does not cost the budget.  
And it matters also because strengthening the rules- based system is the most effective insurance 
against the reversion to protectioni sm.  And concluding the Round takes out more insurance.  So I join 
with those who urge every effort being made to try and conclude the Round in 2010, in particular 
those calls for the continuing political engageme nt going forward, because it has been political 
engagement along with the work of our senior offici als that has seen important progress made in the 
second part of this year.  But unfortunately not  enough to reach a conclusion.  We have to 
multilateralize the work done this year, we have to ha ve continued official enga gement and I believe it 
is essential for Ministers to come together in the early part of 2010.   The final point that I would like to make is to  ensure that the WTO re mains responsive to the 
evolving challenges going forward.  Climate change has been menti oned.  I agree.  We need to 
accelerate in my view the outcome in environmental trade in goods and services.  It is all very well to 
talk about aid for climate change;  we need to liberalize the trade that facilitates mitigation and 
adaptation.  Food security too and energy security lead  to important opportuniti es for us to be engaged WT/MIN(09)/ST/13 
Page 2  
 
  through the services vehicle in facilitating greater  productivity in agriculture, and also greater 
efficiency with which we extract resources to meet energy security. 
  Practical improvements in the way in which we function are also important.  And I do 
welcome India's advanced thinking on this.  I think al so the role of regional trade agreements is an 
essential issue going forward, ensuring that they do  not undermine the multilateral trading system. 
  I think we need to also integrate better the capacity building models, not just on a bilateral 
basis, but within the regional and intern ational architectures that are emerging. 
 
 And finally I think it is in all of our interest s to find better and more effective ways by which 
we measure the benefits of trade and to demonstrate why it is in everyone's interests that we continue 
the liberalization agenda.   I thank you for the opportunity to speak with yo u.  I look forward to our deliberations over the 
next few days. 
 
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