. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/122 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6470) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   French 
 
  
HAITI 
 
Statement Circulated by HE Madame Josseline Colimon Féthière
 
Minister of Trade and Industry  
   On behalf of the Haitian Government, I have  the great honour to take the floor in this 
distinguished assembly.  I should like to thank the Director-General of the World Trade Organization 
for having convened this Conference.  I should also like to thank the WTO Secretariat for the efforts 
made to prepare this event.   I also convey my sincere thanks to the Swi ss Confederation and to the Republic and Canton 
of Geneva for having agreed to host this Conference and for their hospitality.  
 Firstly, the Haitian Delegation supports the statements made by the representatives of 
CARICOM, the LDCs and ACP Groups.   There can be little doubt that trade can act as a catalyst for development and poverty alleviation.  Nevertheless, the impact of the inte rnational financial and econo mic crisis on trade flows 
has highlighted the need to establish a stronger multila teral trading system.  I would have liked to see 
the WTO framework made stronger to enable the Organization to play its role as a guarantor of the system more effectively and better withstand future challenges.   For Members of the Organizations, particularly LDCs, between the first Ministerial Conference in Singapore and that in Hong Kong co nsiderable progress was made.  I believe that this 
Conference will allow expectations to be more clear ly defined, especially in those areas of great 
interest to LDCs:  market access, accession and Aid for Trade, inter alia.  
  I agree with others that the Doha Round mu st be concluded as rapidly as possible.  In 
achieving this, however, the development dimension must remain at the centre of the multilateral 
negotiations.  Accordingly, the special and diffe rential treatment provisions must become more 
precise and flexible so that developing countries,  including LDCs, are better able to observe their 
commitments.  In addition, with regard to Aid fo r Trade, additional resources are required to allow 
LDCs actually to implement projects that could rein force their production infrastructure and facilitate 
job creation. 
 
 Following a technical evaluation, the Republic of Haiti became a beneficiary of the Enhanced 
Integrated Framework in June 2008.   The implementation of this programme is now at a fairly 
advanced stage.  With the support of the Prime Mini ster, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which I 
have the honour to direct, has already drawn up a dr aft decree that will shortly be published in the 
official journal, Le Moniteur.  
 WT/MIN(09)/ST/122 
Page 2  
 
   Furthermore, a Tier 1 project to finance th e preliminary phase of the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework is intended to inform  and promote awareness among stakeholders of the importance of 
trade for growth and poverty alleviation.  I look forward to continuing the work with development 
partners.  
 Before concluding, I should like to menti on the importance of tariff preferences for Haiti's 
economy.  This is why I hope that this question will be dealt with taking into account the interests of 
the poorest countries.   Lastly, I reiterate the request made by the Ministers of Trade from LDCs, at their sixth 
meeting held from 14 to 16 October 2009 in Dar-es- Salaam for support for the development goals of 
the LDCs, guaranteeing the full and complete implem entation of the coherenc e mandate between the 
WTO and international financial institutions.  
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