. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/77 
15 December 2005 
 (05-6065) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
GREECE 
 
Statement by HE Mr Evangelos Bassiakos
 
Minister of Rural Development and Food  
   Allow me at the outset to thank the Authoriti es of Hong Kong, China for the warm hospitality 
extended to us. 
 
 We all have come to Hong K ong with the expectation that this  Meeting will be a milestone in 
achieving the Doha Development Agenda.  We hop e that by Sunday substantial progress will be 
achieved.  Capitalizing on the work done over the pr evious four years, this progress must provide the 
basis for a successful conclusion of the Round next year.  
 Development must remain central to the negotiating Round.  In this respect, our objective 
should be first
, to help developing countries integrate into the world trading system, second  to ensure 
flexibilities in the negotiating areas for the poorest countries and third  to provide, where necessary, a 
substantial aid for trade package.  So far, the focus has been on the developed and fast developing 
economies at the expense of the poorest. 
 
 In the next few days strong efforts have to be  made towards these directions.  In particular 
issues of technical assistance and capacity building s hould continue to be our priority, as well as the 
strengthening of South-South trade, since growth here will create new markets and offset, to some 
extent, preference erosion.  All WTO Members should contribute to this goal by making concessions, commensurate with their level of development.  In this respect, the EU initiative "Everything but 
Arms" can serve as a successful example.  Noneth eless we should not place our hopes and efforts in 
specific sectors or products.  Such an approach pu ts in danger not only the achievement of this goal, 
but also the progress of the overall negotiations.  Development is a complex process which requires many different actions to be taken, in  the context of a long-term strategy. 
 
 Greece is committed to a successful outcome of  the negotiations.  In  addition we strongly 
support the achievement of the Millennium Developmen t Goals.  In this r espect Greece has prepared 
an ambitious development programme and has comm itted a substantial contribution for development 
assistance.  
 Regarding the important issue of agricultu re, which constitutes the key sector in many 
economies, in spite of substantive and comprehens ive negotiations that have been conducted up to 
now, wide divergence remains among the negotiating par ties.  For its part, the EU has consistently 
followed a very flexible approach.  It has demons trated a great degree of realism and willingness to 
achieve a balanced outcome, as reflected in th e reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. 
 
 Another equally important issue that shoul d be taken into account is agriculture's 
multifunctional role, in particular with regard to rural development, food quality and safety and the WT/MIN(05)/ST/77 
Page 2  
 
 protection of the environment.  More precisely it  is essential to set rural areas on the path of 
sustainable development.   Geographical indications is another impor t issue recognized by both developed and 
developing countries.  A strong protection of geogr aphical indications is directly linked to the 
development  of high quality value-added agricultural products.  In this context, I would like to stress 
that we fully support the extension of such prot ection for all agricultural products as well as the 
establishment of an effective and legally binding mu ltilateral system for the protection of wines and 
spirits.  Regrettably, progress on this  issue is lagging behind.  Therefore, it is indispensable that this 
Conference gives clear guidance for our  future work in this field. 
 
 In the post-Cancún period, most of the negotiating efforts have been focused on the agricultural sector while all other sectors were more or less neglected.  It is of paramount importance 
that the Doha Development Agenda process has to m ove ahead in a more global and balanced way.  
In order to conclude this R ound parallel progress is necessary. 
 
 As far as Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA
) is concerned, we are eager to achieve 
agreement on modalities.  The basis should be a strong formula between an ambitious outcome 
towards liberalization of trade and the special need s and interests of developing and least developed 
countries, through the use of flexibilities.  
 Concerning the domain of services, although it constitutes a very important sector for the 
world economy, little progress has been achieved so  far.  Rapidly expanding trade in services 
contributes to economic growth not only for deve loped countries but also for less prosperous 
economies.  
 Last but not least, at this critical moment of the negotiations, mutual understanding remains 
the key element for success.  We believe that the comp letion of the Doha Round at the end of 2006 is 
to the benefit of all WTO Members.  Improving the framework of multilateral rules will contribute 
significantly to the growth and development prospects for all Members.  
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