WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/43 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6117) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
SIERRA LEONE 
 
Statement by HE Mr David O. Carew
 
Minister for Trade and Industry  
   It is a great pleasure and honour for me, on beha lf of the people and Government of Sierra 
Leone, to make a brief statement at this Seventh Regular WTO Ministerial Conference.  Assembled in 
Geneva today is a vast array of world leaders, pa rliamentarians, non-govern mental organizations, and 
the media.  This certainly creates a more challe nging environment for WTO Members, but it is a 
challenge that we must all rise to with a view to  ensuring that we all collectively work during these 
three days towards bridging the gaps that have pr evented us from concluding the Doha Round, which 
was initially envisaged to end in 2005.  
 The convening of this Conference took place dur ing a period of pessimism regarding the  
state of the world affairs.  The year, 2009 finds th e global economy at a crossroads.  Great uncertainty 
surrounds the implications of this crisis for least developed countries.  As such, making the results and 
benefits of globalization more inclusive and mo re beneficial to the least privileged countries 
everywhere should remain our major objective.  We need to tackle this challenge on many fronts and 
simultaneously.  Trade is indeed one of the solutions  and that is the reason why we are here today. 
  I am particularly heartened by the continued in terest of parliamentarians, civil societies as 
well as bilateral and multilateral deve lopment partners in the activities of the WTO.  Your presence in 
Geneva today brings greater demo cracy and accountability to the WTO as an institution.  It reminds 
us of the importance of the project that countries laun ched back in 1947 in an attempt to bring law and 
order to international trade — that project was of course the "GATT".  Today, we all have a collective 
responsibility to strengthen that project, and to take it forward.  After all, it is a project that has 
contributed to world peace and economic growth, a nd which has brought grea ter predictability and 
accountability to trade relations.  
 Ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware of the uniqueness of this 7
th WTO Regular Ministerial 
Conference in that it has been scheduled not as a regular negotiating session but to review the 
activities of the WTO and the contributions it can  make towards economic recovery, growth and 
development.  The convening of this Conferen ce is timely and underscores the urgency and 
importance of the need for the entire WTO Membersh ip to reflect on and give policy inputs and a 
sense of direction to some of the pressing issues th at seem to have apparently prevented us from 
concluding a deal on the Doha Round   As a least developed country, Sierra Leone fe rvently believes in the merits of trade opening 
and reduction in trade barriers as a vital forc e for poverty reduction, promoting growth and 
development as well as improving the standard of li ving of the populace.  We also believe that the 
World Trade Organization remains the most efficient and most legitimate forum to open and regulate 
world trade.  The most efficient because it is at th e service of all its Members.  The most legitimate, WT/MIN(09)/ST/43 
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  because it is the fairest system of all, as all the deci sions are taken by all the Members, large or small, 
strong or weak.   We are, nonetheless, convinced that in spite of the benefits inherent in trade liberalization, 
there are considerable adjustment  costs that cannot be ignored.  These adjustments must not be 
relegated to the future:  they must be an integral pa rt of the opening-up agenda.  It is no hidden secret 
that trade opening works for development but only if the imbalances it creates between developed 
countries and LDCs is adequately addressed.  Th ese imbalances have prevented LDCs from taking 
advantage of existing programmes.  For example, in  the case of my country, struggling as we are to 
recover from the dire effects of a devastating el even-year war, special programmes like the EBA and 
AGOA and even regional ones like the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme have so far not been 
of benefit to the budding Sierra Leone private sect or.  Challenges involving a total lack of supply 
capacity such as weak and most times non-existent infrastructure, as well as very weak institutional 
capacity, have relegated these initiatives to mere "A ccords" to which Sierra Leone is a signatory. 
 
 As a post-conflict country with demanding challenges, Sierra Leone is in dire need of support 
to address issues relating to supply side constraints.   Consequently,  infrastructural development and 
the requisite institutional capacity building should go hand in hand with, or possibly even precede, the 
lowering of tariffs.   To address challenges relating to infrastructural  development, Government has instituted an 
Agenda for Change (the second ge neration PRSP) with the major objective of socio-economic growth 
which "calls on Agriculture to be the engine for economic growth, with focus on production, 
processing and marketing of domestically consumed a nd export-oriented crops, livestock, forestry and 
fishery products".  
 The initial energy need is being addressed with  the recent launching of the first phase of the 
Bumbuna hydro-electric power dam project providing electricity supply to Freetown and other parts 
of the country.  In all, Government has increased electricity supply to the Western Area, including the 
capital – Freetown - from an inherited 5 to a curre nt 65 megawatts.  Despite this major stride by 
Government, particularly in the energy sector, the poor state of the country's infrastructure remains the biggest stumbling block to rea lizing its development aspirations. 
 
 We therefore would like the Aid-for-Trade in itiative to include provisions for assisting the 
public sector in developing basic infrastructure and ot her challenges relative to the creation of a viable 
trade and investment environment.  We are also  of the view that the actual focus should be on 
implementing  programmes and projects both at coun try and regional level that can address the real 
capacity constraints of the LDCs, including the build ing of productive capacities, trade facilitation and 
human resource development.  We appreciate the E nhanced Integrated Framework initiative under the 
Aid for Trade as a step in the right direction in addressing the trade capacity and supply side 
constraints faced by LDCs.  Sierra Leone has already received funding from the TIER 1 Funds.  However delays in coming up with TIER 2 project Guidelines that could be used to develop project 
proposals in line with the Diagnostic Trade Integr ation Study's Action Matrix continue to create 
problems for us in aligning donor-funded activities with our overall work programme. 
  With respect to the WTO negotiations, I wish to state that Sierra Leone is committed to a 
successful completion of the Doha Round of nego tiations.  While LDCs should remain committed to 
the conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations, I re main steadfast in my belief that we, the LDCs, 
will need to send a strong and clear message to  the international community, especially the key 
players in the WTO process, that any outcome must not be at the cost of sacrificing the just and 
legitimate demands of LDCs for a WTO that has development at its heart.   WT/MIN(09)/ST/43 
 Page 3 
 
 
   Before concluding my statement, I would like to use this opportunity to inform this august 
body that Sierra Leone is finding it difficult to eff ectively participate in the WTO as we are one of the 
few countries that does not have a Mission here in Ge neva to effectively liaise with the capital.  We 
are actively looking into addressing this and would appreciate whatever support we could get in this 
regard. 
 
 Regarding the review of the activities of the WT O, it is my fervent belief that we should use 
this forum to have a comprehensive stock-taking of what we have achieved so far as an Organization 
as well as why we have failed to achieve what we  should have achieved.  In this regard, the 
recommendations of the Chair at the end of this th ree day conference should lead to the strengthening 
of the internal workings of this Organization and the enhancement of the institution's effectiveness 
and efficiency in terms of the services it provides to its Members.  
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