. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/78 
17 December 2011  
 
(11-6646) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
GEORGIA 
 
Statement by Mr Mikheil Janelidze 
Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development 
  
 I am deeply honoured to address the eighth session of the WTO's Ministerial Conference. 
 
 On behalf of the Government of Georgia, I would like to congratulate the WTO Secretariat 
with the successful organization of this c onference and extend special thanks to the 
government and people of the Swiss Confed eration for hosting this important event. 
 
 Certainly, today we have a challenging global economic environment and it is of 
vital importance for the future growth of the world economy to strengthen the role of WTO for achieving more openness, transparency and predic tability;  and resist and fight all forms of 
protectionism in the strongest terms. 
 
 We welcome the enlargement of the Organization and accession of the new Members which 
means more predictable and transparent trade in the World.  To facilitate accessions, Georgia, 
with the tireless efforts of the Government of the Swiss Confederation, has negotiated very 
important agreements with the Russian Federati on enabling the finalization of the long lasting 
accession process.  These agreemen ts will ensure the transparen cy of all trade in goods 
between the two Members of the WTO. 
 
 It is of vital importance for the Organization a nd the future development that the New as well 
as the Old Members fully commit to their obligations and ensure execution of the 
WTO agreements, being transparent and predictable. 
 
 On our side, by implementing the ground-break ing economic reforms during the last years, 
we ensured that Georgia has one of the most liberal trade regimes a nd economic policies in 
the world, is a sustainable and reliable partner for the other countries and is in the list of 
top destinations for doing business.  In 2010, Georgia was named by the World Bank as the 
number one reformer and number 12
th by ease of doing business. 
 
 As a result, Georgia is becoming a trading hub of our region and despite the world's economic 
problems our economy is growing and e xports are reaching record levels. 
 
 There is a positive link for sure between trad e and development and there should be more 
focused work executed in the Committee on Trad e and Development for further integration of 
developing countries into th e multilateral trading system. 
 WT/MIN(11)/ST/78 
Page 2  
 
   It is regrettable that the negotiations on th e Doha Development Agenda Single Undertaking 
are at an impasse due to the significantly differe nt perspectives on the possible results that 
Members can achieve in certain areas but ac tive work should be continued to conclude 
successfully the DDA, based on the progress already made and by finding new ways for overcoming the most critical stalemates. 
 
 We reaffirm our commitment towards the principles of open and transparent trade, 
constructiveness and readiness to contribute at the maximum possible extent to the 
development of a liberal multilateral trad ing system leading to the sustainable 
global economic growth. 
 
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