. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/28 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5993) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session 
Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
 
 
TURKEY 
 
Statement by HE Mr Kürsad Tüzmen  
Minister of State, in Charge of Foreign Trade  
 
 
 Please allow me to start with expressing ou r gratitude to the Government of Hong Kong, 
China for hosting the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization and for their excellent arrangements and warmest hospitality.  
 I would also like to congratulate Mr Pascal Lamy once again for his election as the 
Director-General of the WTO, as his guidance and personal efforts give an additional momentum to 
the ongoing negotiations.  I should thank Supachai Panichpakdi for his devoted time and efforts that 
have been crucial to overcome the di fficulties in the post-Cancún period. 
  At this point, I would like to welcome Saudi Arabia and Tonga to the WTO family, here in 
Hong Kong.  Their membership will positively contri bute to the universality of the WTO.  On the 
other hand, we should all do our best to assist the re maining acceding countries in their efforts to join 
the community soon. 
 
 In this framework, it is a great pleasure for me to see the Palestinian National Authority in 
this Ministerial as an observer.  I believe that this will be the first step of Palestine's integration into 
the multilateral trading system.  
 I want to express my satisfaction with the rece nt amendment to the TRIPS Agreement.  It is 
of great value for fighting against major public health crises faced by millions of people particularly 
in Africa and in other parts of the world.  Now it is time for us to move to other pending areas of 
negotiations. 
 
 The progress achieved in the negotiations so far could have been much better.  However, it 
should also be noted that all Members have been working hard and displaying determination towards 
a satisfactory conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda.  Therefore, from now on, we should 
concentrate on bridging divergences, which are to a large extent the result of existing imbalances 
within the multilateral trading system and differenc es in the economic deve lopment levels of the 
Members.  To that end, the future success of the system and the WTO is in our hands.   Having this in mind, I would like to dwell on  some particular negotiation areas and make a 
few remarks. 
 
 First and foremost, I am certain that we all rec ognize the critical role of agriculture both in the 
economies of the developing countries and in the negotiation process.  
 In this framework, it is my firm belief that here in Hong Kong, with a comprehensive 
approach, we will be able to provide a road map to  proceed further.  While designing this map we WT/MIN(05)/ST/28 
Page 2  
 
 should not forget that a balance to be set among market access and trade-distorting support measures 
is a prerequisite for a successful outcome. 
 
 At this moment, I should refer to the efforts of G-33 in outlining the Special Products and 
Special Safeguard Mechanism that coincide with the development aspect of the Round.  These 
instruments have a vital importance to have progress in the market access negotiations and to sustain 
agriculture in the developing countries. 
 
 Nonetheless, agriculture should not be our only concern.  We expect the Members to 
participate and make positive cont ributions in all areas of the ne gotiations to achieve an overall 
balance.  
 To this end, negotiations on non-agricultural market access offer a good opportunity.  Turkey, 
searching for a real improvement in market access for its exporters, is committed to achieve an 
ambitious outcome from the negotiations in line with the Doha Mandate.  In this respect, we look for 
a compromise on a formula that would sufficiently  stimulate trade and the development of world 
economy by delivering real market access opportunities for all Members.  This formula, taking into 
account the growing importance of South-South trade and its impact on the world economy, should 
also be tailored to improve market access among developing countries. 
 
 At this point, I would like to emphasize the keen interest of Turkey in the textile and clothing sector.  Considering the importance of this sector for many developing countries, as I also referred at Cancún, we believe that a sectoral  approach leading to harmonizatio n of tariffs by all Members would 
be the most appropriate way to generate new market opportunities. 
 
 I believe that the efforts to liberalize trade will be incomplete unless they are supported by 
trade facilitation initiatives.  Therefore, Turkey atta ches great importance to the negotiations on trade 
facilitation.  Progress in this area will provide benefits  especially to developing countries, as the costs 
of compliance with trade procedures are high and discouraging for them.  Considering the current 
status of the negotiations, we are optimistic on the success of the process on the way to commence 
text-based negotiations after this Minister ial to reach a set of multilateral commitments. 
 
 I am also pleased to see the attempts aiming at acceleration of the se rvices negotiations.  I 
believe that while developing alternative approaches  for the intensification of request-offer process 
we should take into account unique conditions of each country.  Therefore, flexibilities built in the 
GATS should not be weakened.  Primarily, we s upport the request-offer process and believe that it 
can be further improved to be a more efficient system by some pragmatic approaches. 
 
 At this critical point of the negotiations, we shou ld do more than our best to reach the goals of 
the Doha Declaration. 
 
 I should admit that it is not an easy task;  however, we have the political will, vision and 
ambition to provide a clear guidance for the future work to conclude the Round by the end of 2006. 
 
 Concluding my remarks, I would like to reite rate our commitment to the Doha Development 
Agenda and emphasize that Turkey is ready to cooperate in the search for a compromise, which 
guides the future of the multilatera l trading system and provides bene fits for each Member country. 
 
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