. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/29 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5994) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session 
Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
 
 
BARBADOS 
 
Statement by the Honourable Dame Billie Miller, MP  
Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade  
 
 
 I wish to congratulate you on your election to  the Chair of the Sixth Ministerial Conference. 
The Barbados delegation thanks you and the Government of Hong Kong for the warm welcome offered.  We have confidence in your capacity to steer the Conference to a positive outcome.  We also 
wish to congratulate Mr Pascal Lamy on his appointment as the fifth Director-General of the World 
Trade Organization. 
 
 The road from Doha to Hong Kong has been a most difficult and disa ppointing one.  We have 
lost focus in these negotiations.  The development theme which should have  underpinned our 
discussions has been neglected.  Indeed, traditional is sues again have returned to threaten the success 
of international  trade negotiations.  If nothing else, this Conference must once more place 
development concerns at the forefront of the negotiations. 
 
 Raising the standard of living of all citizens of a country is the essence of development.  It is 
facilitated through meaningful trade, investment, aid, access to financial resources, appropriate 
technology and capacity building.  These are elements which were not given adequate attention in 
previous negotiating rounds.  But, the situation is different now because they can be identified in the 
present WTO Work Programme.  They demand our utmost attention.  
 As developing countries we are very clear as to what we want from this Conference. 
  We want special and differential treatment, in cluding longer time periods for implementing 
agreements and commitments;  measures to increase trading opportunities for our countries;  
provisions requiring WTO Members to safeguard the trade interests of  developing countries;  and 
support to help developing countries build the infras tructure to implement trade rules, and to manage 
trade disputes. 
 
 We want to have the implementation issues which we have been raising since the first 
Ministerial Conference in 1996 addressed.  These i ssues span a wide range of agreements including 
those on TRIPS, Technical Barriers to Trade, Safeguard Measures, Customs Valuation and the TRIMs.  
 We need greater financial and technical assistan ce to build our capacity in order to participate 
effectively in international trade. 
 
 These are some of the matters developing countries wish and need to have addressed.
 
 
 It must be recognized that among developing countries, there are differences in a range of 
characteristics including size, vuln erability and the availability of natural resources.  This is even WT/MIN(05)/ST/29 
Page 2  
 
 more evident when consideration is given to the small vulnerable developing countries whose share  of 
global grade is too miniscule ever to distort world tr ade.  It is well documented, that these economies 
have characteristics which include limited economi c diversification, income volatility, a limited 
economic base, remoteness from global markets, susceptibility to natural disasters, and limited 
institutional capacity which all require special recogn ition, and must be addressed within international 
trade rules. 
 
 Small vulnerable economies require flexibility and policy space for implementing provisions 
and commitments under the WTO body of agreements;  longer transitional periods;  market access for 
products and services of particular export interest  to these economies;  support for their regional 
integration efforts;  and significant technical an d financial assistance to mitigate administrative, 
human and institutional limitations. 
 
 Barbados, as a small, vulnerable, develo ping country is fully committed to trade 
liberalization.  We are very supportive of fair inte rnational trade rules.  Fo r us, liberalization must 
however be at a pace which is manageable and wh ich will not be detrimen tal to our economy and 
development goals. 
 
 Rounds of trade negotiations which were consider ed to be successful were those that achieved 
specific and pre-defined objectives.  In 2001, as trade ministers, we collectively chose to place 
development concerns at the core of the negotiations .  If this Round of multilateral trade negotiations 
is to be successful, then it must unequivocally address the concerns of developing countries.  
 Millions of people both in de veloping and develope d countries the world over are depending 
on us to remove the barriers to completion of the Round.  Countries which are  currently part of the 
problem must become part of the solution and resolv e their differences to the mutual advantage of all 
WTO Members.  It is a task from which we are not at liberty to abstain. 
 
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