. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/49 
16 December 2011  
 
(11-6602) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
BOTSWANA 
 
Statement by the Hon. Dorcas Makgato-Malesu 
Minister of Trade and Industry 
 
  1. It is indeed an honour and privilege for me to address this Eighth WTO Ministerial 
Conference. 
2. From the onset, allow me to join others in congratulating you on your election to direct the 
proceedings of this important Conference. 
3. Let me also take this opportunity to congratu late Montenegro, the Russian Federation, Samoa 
and Vanuatu on their accession to the WTO.  We welc ome them to the family which we believe will 
strengthen the multilateral trading system. 
4. During the Seventh Ministerial Conference we had all regained hope that an opportunity 
existed to conclude the Round on the basis of the ne gotiated Draft Texts, unfortunately that has not 
happened and now we are faced with possibilities of entrenched positions. 
5. There is no doubt that the multilateral trading sy stem has served us well to-date.  It is 
therefore in the best interest of all of us that the worth and validity of the system is not brought to 
doubt. 
6. It is now crystal clear that it will take a combination of political leadership, commitment and 
strong will to compromise in order to advance and conclude the negotiations. 
7. The Doha Round holds a lot of hope for capaci tating the less developed countries and the 
Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) to levels wh ere they can effectively participate in the world 
merchandise trade.  It is also an assurance to the developed nations for increased demand for their 
products.  The Eighth Conference is the time for us all to renew our commitment to concluding the 
Round drawing from the already negotiated draft texts. 
8. It can be expected that in the face of an ailing global economy, we may experience increased 
protectionism which will create further distortions in the world trade.  I take this opportunity to join 
those that have appealed for restraint in this area as indeed this protectioni sm may further contaminate 
the playing field and thus make it more  difficult to conclude these negotiations. 
9. It is my understanding that some Member St ates are bringing to the negotiating table 
new agenda items, termed "new issues". WT/MIN(11)/ST/49 
Page 2  
 
  10. This is not the time to over-crowd the alre ady difficult negotiations with new and more 
complicated issues.  Our focus should be on r esuscitating the Doha Development Agenda for the 
immediate good of all WTO Members, especially th ose that are least developed and vulnerable. 
11. We have taken note of the call for "new appro aches" to the Doha negotiations but we must 
re-emphasize the greater importance of a transparent and all inclusive system which in effect has been 
the corner-stone of the trust and confidence confe rred on the multilateral trading system.  However in 
instances where the "new approaches" become n ecessary they must not replace the principles of 
multilateralism, transparency and inclusivity. 
12. An ambitious and balanced conclusion can onl y be reached if we respect the development 
mandate of the Doha Round which remains as releva nt today as it was in 2001 when we set ourselves 
the task to embark on these multilateral trade negot iations.  We unanimously placed development at 
the core of the negotiations as we were concer ned with the major imba lances in the multilateral 
trading system.  To this date, these concerns re main legitimate and therefore development should 
remain central to the DDA negotiations.  The longer th e impasse the further the inherent benefits are 
being eroded through the passage of time, as we ll as changes in the global economic arena. 
13. Whilst it is desirous to explore the possibilit y of an early harvest, in accordance with 
paragraph 47 of the Doha Mandate , priority should be given to issues that will benefit the most 
vulnerable members of the Organization. 
14. Botswana recognises that considerable progress has been achieved so far.  We, therefore, call 
Members to preserve what has been achieved in th e last 10 years of taxing negotiations.  Future 
negotiations should build on what has been achieve d to date and we shoul d not attempt to reopen 
stabilized texts as this would unravel the w hole package and bring even more undesirable 
consequences. 
15. The importance of Aid for Trade in addressing the constraints afflicting the supply-side 
capacities and trade-related infrastructure de ficiencies for developing countries cannot be 
overemphasized, especially during these difficult times.  Botswana welcomes the financial 
commitments made by our development partners fo r this initiative.  We however want to call on 
our partners to translate these commitments to actua l disbursements and to simplify the requirements 
for accessing the facilities. 
16. In conclusion, Botswana would like to share the call for an immediate resumption of the 
stalled DDA negotiations and for a win-win co nclusion of the Round.  Development-friendly 
outcomes should remain central to the Round and i ssues of importance to developing and vulnerable 
economies should be accorded the attention they d eserve.  In this regard, we fully support the 
Communique of G-33, the Accra Declaration on WTO issues and the Ministerial Declaration of the Informal Group of Developing Countries. 
17. Botswana would like to reiterate its comm itment to the successful conclusion of the 
Doha Round.  The timely and successful conclusi on of the Round will not only restore the confidence 
in the world trade environment, but will also stre ngthen the role of the multilateral trading system in 
promoting development. 
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