. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/81 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6179) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 
 
Statement by the Honourable Samuel Abal (MP
) 
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration  
   At this Seventh Conference of the WTO, we the world are all gathered here to re-energize and 
give our support to agree for a freer and fairer ru le based trading system that all economies can and 
must take ownership of.  We from Papua New Guinea are in full support of the emerging positive 
attitudes of all countries as we have heard to subscr ibe to such a multilateral trading system and the 
WTO.  We note amongst others, the positive attitude  of the USA Trade Representative and team to 
negotiate.   Even for small countries of the Pacific, we ha ve seen the very dilig ent and able work of 
Mr Pascal Lamy and his Secretariat dealing with all countries despite differences, to arrive at such a 
gathering as this.  I take my hat off to Mr Pascal Lamy and his Secretariat.   Papua New Guinea took a decisive step a few y ears back to fully open up its trade and tariff 
regime and we are now WTO compatible allowing over 80 per cent of all items in free of duty.  
International trade accounts for over 90 per cent of ou r GDP.  Perhaps we have been naive, but we 
have opened up, hoping and believing that we will somehow  position ourselves better and more 
efficiently even in this evolving regime of things in  the world.  The key is a fairer 'rules-based trading 
system'.   We have been blessed by God to possess nume rous resources which we welcome genuine 
investors from around the world, who will bring the finance and technical capabilities to extract them 
but both for their benefit as well ourselves to be used  towards the welfare of our people.  They must 
also come to add value to the resources in investing for further downstream processing.   We may not be able to produce Toyotas and Me rcedes Benzes and the like, but we aspire to 
can the tuna that is found in our waters. 
  Our economies are small with limited e xportable commodities and a few markets in 
developed and developi ng countries.  We in the Pacific are i ndeed small fishes in a big ocean with 
many sharks and a few friends.  Who will think of us if we do not speak at this forum and so we voice 
our support to the work of the WTO? 
  Therefore in particular, we seek a fairer ru le-based multilateral trading that provides specific 
responses to specific trade development needs of ou r countries.  We seek a development oriented 
WTO that helps us to compete alongside other na tions and protect us from unfair trade practices. 
 WT/MIN(09)/ST/81 
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   We request the WTO Director-General to cr eate a division in the WTO to be specifically 
responsible for the implementation of the work programme on small economies and focus on assisting 
small economies in benefiting from WTO activities.   We request the WTO to create a Training Institute on WTO Agreements in one of the 
Pacific Island States to conduct permanent training on  WTO issues.  We also ask that the technical 
assistance programme to Pacific Island countries be in creased especially due to the chronic lack of 
trade capacity in the region.  That is why a ne w PACER Plus capacity building for Pacific Island 
Countries is important, and we note Australia's commitment.  
 We further welcome all Aid donors' commitmen t for the so-called Aid-for-Trade initiative.  
We, in Papua New Guinea, hope to replace the aid dependency syndrome with an economy that is 
self-sustaining through trade.   From our perspective, it is of vital importance that there is: 
 
• Special and differential treatment to small vulnerable economies (SVEs), in regard to 
disciplines on fisheries subsidies; 
• meaningful market access commitments on Mode 4;  and 
• binding Agreements on TA for trade facilitation etc. and on Agriculture and NAMA 
for strengthening competitiveness and market ability through meeting international 
standards. 
 Finally, I do not want to repeat some of th e other delegations statements on climate change 
but suffice it to say that we, the island countries, suffe r the ill effects of the cl imatic change and fully 
endorse the position of the Association of Small Island State (AOSIS).   It is indeed at times such as this when nothi ng else seems possible and the very existence of 
us all looms large before us, that we must gather together to find a solution to issues such as climate 
change, to food security, natural disasters and also  a common rule-based trading system.  And that 
solution is with us and not far from us, in that even if we lack the goodwill  that should be with us 
because we are competing states for trade gains, at  least we can admit that we all do have the will to 
survive  and perhaps leaders from both developed and developing countries can rise to the higher 
occasions required at this time, to conclude the Doha  Round and not to forget to achieve a liberalized 
trading system and of course a new Copenhagen Agreement. 
 
 To the leading nations of the wo rld, we ask, please take the lead. 
 
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