. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/50 
15 December 2005 
 (05-5998) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
KUWAIT 
 
Statement Circulated by HE Mr Abdullah Al-Taweel
 
Minister of Commerce and Industry  
   Let me begin by expressing the gratitude of the Government of the State of Kuwait to the Government and people of Hong Kong, China, for hosting the 6
th Ministerial Meeting of the World 
Trade Organization.  The preparation and organizatio n of the conference have been excellent.  I would 
like to congratulate HE Mr John Tsang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology of Hong Kong, China, on his appointment to the chairmansh ip of this august assembly, and his three vice-
chairpersons ministers.   I also extend my congratulations to the new Director-General of our organization, Mr Pascal 
Lamy, his Secretariat, and all those who have deploye d considerable efforts to make this conference a 
success.   No doubt, in this occasion, the State of Kuwait takes this opportunity to welcome the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a new WTO Member a nd expresses confidence that it will be able to 
contribute towards strengthening the global and regi onal trading system and defending the WTO rules 
and disciplines.   At the 4
th Ministerial Conference at Doha year 200 1, Ministers unanimously expressed their 
readiness to participate in the broad and balanced  work programme which is to all Members, and 
results in more economic growth, employment and sustainable development worldwide.  It was a 
demonstration of a collective will to secure furthe r trade liberalization, as well as to bring about a 
strengthened and expanded multilateral trading system, one which is sufficiently responsive to the 
challenges of today's world;  to bring into focu s the overriding objectives of the programme, namely 
the integration of the development dimension in  all areas of the negotiating Doha Development 
Agenda. 
 
 The Government of the State of Kuwait sub scribes fully to the designation of the Doha 
Development Agenda as my country's trade policy priority.  The central element of our approach is our full support for effective multilateral trading system under the direction of the WTO and our strong commitment to respond to our  concerns and ambitions.  We welcome the agreement that was 
reached in July 2004 to commence negotiations on one of the Singapore issues which was Trade 
Facilitation.   The reason we are here in Hong Kong, China, is  to set the path for further negotiations under 
the Doha Development Agenda, leading to its successful conclusion by the end of year 2006 as 
mentioned in the report of the ch airperson of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC).  It is clear 
that our action and the results of our meeting being watched by the world community, it is vital that 
we increase our cooperation and work together with  a sense of mutual understanding and flexibility to 
make this conference a success. WT/MIN(05)/ST/50 
Page 2  
 
  
 To do so, we must first and foremost, admit to the simple reality that the WTO Members do not have the same level of econom ic and development.  While the developed Members are evidently 
more advanced in dealing with  commitments and issues under the multilateral trading system, it is 
clear that most of the developing countries are not. 
 
 Accordingly, as a developing Member, allow me now, to highlight a number of points of great importance to the State of Kuwait:   First, on special and differential treatment, the State of Kuwait is of the opinion that special 
and differential treatment provisions must be an in tegral part of the WTO agreement so that the 
interest of the developing countries are properly reflected in the commitments under this round without discrimination among developing countries.   Second, on agriculture, the State of Kuwait is a net food importing country and would like to 
state that phasing out export subsidies might raise the world price of food.  We should identify a 
yardstick against this for the future.   Third, on market access to non-agricultural products (NAMA), we have to remind Members 
that when the negotiating group discusses the issue of formula, treatment of unbound tariffs, and 
flexibility for developing countries, should take into  consideration the less than full reciprocity and 
special and differential treatment which were integral part and cross-cutting components of 
paragraph 16 of the Doha mandate.   In conclusion, it is our collective responsi bility to find common understanding during this 
conference that will drive this process to substantial lib eralization.  This is crucial for the growth of 
world economy and development of our countries. 
 
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