WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/65 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6132) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   Spanish 
 
  
EL SALVADOR 
 
Statement by HE Dr Héctor Miguel Antonio Dada Hirezi
 
Ministry of the Economy  
   On behalf of the Government of El Salva dor, I should like to thank the Swiss Government 
and people for their cordial recepti on and hospitality.  On the occasion of this Ministerial Conference, 
I should also like to thank the Director-General, Mr  Pascal Lamy, and the WTO Secretariat, as well as 
the Members of this Organization and my colleague from Chile, HE Mr André Velasco, Chair of this 
Ministerial Conference.  It is a great honour for me to meet on this occasion with Ministers from other Member countries of the Organization.   I believe it important to stress that our pr esence here should be used to reaffirm our 
commitment to the Organization and to reflect toge ther on its institutional framework and its future 
tasks.  Bearing in mind that the multilateral trad ing system, under WTO auspices, has been operating 
for a number of years, the time has come to focus our efforts on those areas that allow us to comply 
faithfully with the principles of this Organization, for example, transparency, full participation by all 
Members, as well as observance of the regulatory agreements. 
 
 With renewed vision, El Salvador recogni zes the importance of the multilateral trading 
system under the WTO as the major axis of its trade po licy, and will continue to do so.  We are also 
aware that the disciplines by which it is governed can be improved in order to prevent imbalances and 
distortions of markets in goods and services thro ughout the world.  Accordingly, our country 
approaches, and will continue to approach, its work in  this forum with the firmest of convictions that 
this must be the governing principle for our present a nd future work;  this is the only way in which we 
can measure the concrete benefits of th e system for our peoples in real terms. 
  This meeting is taking place in a global context that has no precedent, in the midst of what might be seen as the worst global financial and ec onomic crisis, which has affected us all to a 
significant degree.  Even though there are some signs of recovery, mainly in developed economies 
and in some emerging economies, sm all and vulnerable countries such as El Salvador continue to face 
critical economic and social situati ons, chiefly in the form of a slow -down in finance and international 
trade, less foreign direct investment, a reduction in remittances, fewer jobs a nd uncertainty as regards 
future flows of cooperation.  Regarding the latter, we  highlight the leadership of the Director-General 
and his team in the Aid-for-Trade initiative, wh ich we see as a valuable tool for the genuine 
integration of developing countries in global trade, pa rticularly small countries.  This is why we call 
on donors to maintain and increase coope ration resources for this initiative. 
  As proposed at the United Nations Conferen ce on the World Financial and Economic Crisis 
and its Impact on Development, held at United Nati ons Headquarters in June this year, my country 
endorses the need to reorganize the interaction amon g international political and financial bodies such 
as the International Monetary Fund and the World Ba nk.  On that occasion, we made an appeal that WT/MIN(09)/ST/65 
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  we repeat in this forum:  the n eed for international consultation to turn the international cooperation 
financing organizations and the international politi cal organizations into mechanisms for coordinated 
action to ensure well-being and equity on a universal scale.   In this new context, it is essential to evalua te the contribution of the multilateral trading 
system to mitigating the negative effects of the crisis  and to ensuring that its benefits are utilized to 
the full, inasmuch as trade can contribute towards the prosperity of peoples, provided that it is 
conducted fairly and equitably and that the special  needs and situations of the poorest countries 
receive priority.  
 My country is a firm believer in the "developmen t dimension" as an intrinsic criterion in this 
Organization's work;  we therefore continue to supp ort the incorporation of th is concept into each and 
every one of the areas that govern the multilateral trading system so that it becomes a concrete 
component that responds to the legitimate needs of developing countries and, in particular, of 
countries such as mine. 
 
 Just as the community of nations has undertak en to do, El Salvador is moving towards 
compliance with the Millennium Development Goals.  Although it is true that, with great effort, we 
have made progress towards this objective, we acknowledge that we are still facing redoubtable 
challenges and that the progress made in many of its components, especially as regards human development, cannot be considered sustainable if we continually have to contend with external factors 
that diminish any of the benefits achieved.  El Sa lvador will continue to strive hard to alleviate 
poverty and to pursue its efforts in areas such as agri culture, food safety, education, health and the 
environment, inter alia . 
  It is timely to refer to the current Doha  Round negotiations.  Even though they represent a 
daunting challenge, we take an active part because we  are convinced that trade can play a role in 
giving the national economy a new impetus, being a t ool that can provide our citizens with a better 
quality of life.  With that in mind, we promote national interests in the various areas of the Doha Development Agenda intended to rectify the distortions still permitted by the current 
disciplines, which we believe prevent our eff ective integration into potential markets for 
Salvadoran goods and services.  This is why we shall continue to promote our interests in this process, 
either individually or through various groups of countries with which we share a similar vision, for 
example the Group of Small and Vulnerable Economies and the Group of 33.   With this aim in view and underlining the importance of achieving a proportionate and balanced result in this negotiating agenda, El Salvad or maintains its commitment to move forward in 
the various areas of negotiation and we share the inte rest of many others in this Organization in 
reaching a successful conclusion to the Round next year.  It is our opinion that, in order to attain this 
objective, political commitment on the part of all Members of the Organization is essential.  What is 
needed in particular is a demonstration of a sense  of responsibility and leadership by the major actors 
in decision-making so that tangible results can be achieved in the pending issues under negotiation, 
based on the progress made to date. 
 
 We see this Ministerial Conference as a unique oppo rtunity to allow us all, together, to reflect 
on the Organization's future, with the aim that the outcome of our meeting will be the creation of a 
platform for our work which, based on the princi ples that currently govern the Organization, will 
allow us to meet the challenges im posed by this new global scenario. 
  WT/MIN(09)/ST/65 
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   We hope to bring forward constructive ideas in  the working sessions to be held in parallel 
with this plenary and to ensure that discussions ther e are translated into concrete action that will allow 
us to meet the objectives we have set.   You may be sure that El Salvador assumes its  responsibilities in this Conference and is taking 
part in the firm conviction that the meeting will be successful and will come up to our expectations. 
 
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