. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/44 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6121) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
LATVIA 
 
Statement by HE Mr J ānis Mažeiks
 
Ambassador, Permanent Representative  
   Let me first express our appreciation to the Director-General Mr Pascal Lamy, and to the Chairman of the General Council Ambassador Matus for their enormous efforts and hard work in 
preparing the Seventh Ministerial Conference of th e World Trade Organization.  Let me also thank 
the Government of the Swiss Confederati on for hosting this Conference in Geneva. 
  I would like to underline several points, which are of high importance to my country.   We are pleased to note the first stabilization signs in the global markets.  We view this as a 
good signal to the multilateral trading environment.  However, these are only the early signs of 
stabilization - a lot of work is still to be done.  Cu rrently the global economic agenda is focused on the 
exit strategy.  Apart from the decisions on the timing of the withdrawal of the stimulus packages and re-evaluation of the approach to the financial regulations there is the long-standing issue of 
multilateral trade liberalization. 
 
 The conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda  and resistance to protectionism are very 
important elements of the exit strategy for Latvia.  It is crucial for Latvia, a country of small and open 
economy, which has absorbed a certain amount of turbulence of the global economic and financial 
crisis, to ensure that external markets remain ope n and trade-related barriers to business initiatives are 
gradually eliminated. 
 
 As the WTO Director-General has pointed out  on previous occasions, increased international 
trade is part of the solution to the global economic  crisis, not the cause of the problem.  We cannot 
agree more.  Finding new export markets for new and existing products is a gateway to economic 
recovery and should be an integral part of a country's overall economic stabilization package. 
 
 Successful conclusion of the DDA would have direct impact on this.  There is common 
understanding on the benefits that the conclusion of the DDA could bring to the world economy - more than €150 billion annually.  We  should not miss that potential. 
 
 Let me thank the Director-General and his team  for the initiative to monitor the situation on 
protectionist measures around the globe.  We welcome the WTO's hard work on protectionism, 
especially for reminding us of the consequences if we give in to it.   Let me briefly touch upon the issue on accessi ons.  Latvia welcomes the accession process, 
widening the area where a multilateral system of rules govern trade relations and enhances economic 
development.  There are, however, major economies th at are outside this system.  We encourage them 
to speed up their accession process.  There are al so countries with smaller but already quite open WT/MIN(09)/ST/44 
Page 2  
 
  economies, for whom the accession to the WTO is one of their foreign policy priorities.  We strongly 
support rapid accessions of those countries and invite all other WTO Members to do the same.  We share the view that it is crucial to ensure that  the accession process remains open and transparent. 
 
__________