WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/108 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6376) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
NAMIBIA 
 
Statement by the Honourable Clara Bohitile
 
Member of Parliament  
   It is an honour to address this Conference. I also thank our host, Switzerland, and the WTO 
Secretariat, for the excellent arrangements.  
 
 We have the opportunity to change the gl obal trading system, and thereby improve the 
livelihood of the people we represent.    We have been hit by a succession of negativ e events, ranging from the food crisis to the 
energy crisis, the financial crisis, all of which ha ve culminated to become the global economic crisis. 
 
 In many developing countries the gains in econom ic growth have been eradicated through the 
effects of a financial system allowed to operate w ithout adequate controls in the developed world. 
  The WTO has been in existence for 14 years and it has played an important role in bringing 
stability and coherence in the global trading system .  This is laudable bu t this is not enough. 
Confidence in the system is eroding very fast gi ven its conduct of establishing exclusive elitist clubs 
of small configurations and groupings in the ne gotiating theatre at the expense of the majority. 
  The current system needs to be reformed to ensure inclusivity, transparency and political 
ownership of our efforts and results. Perhaps a starting point for the WTO Members to restore 
confidence in the system would be to restore decision-making in a multilateral setting through the 
General Council.   WTO is and must remain a member driven organization. The WTO Appellate Body, which 
has at times been using the negative consensus sti pulation to engage in rule-making and creating new 
obligations under the pretence of interpretation, shou ld be reminded that such mandates lie with the 
Ministerial Conferences and the General Council.   It is my firm belief that the internati onal trading community and the multilateral trading 
system have to intensify their efforts to accelerate th e integration of developing countries, particularly 
African countries, into the global economy. Unless we  bring African nations, most of which are least-
developed, into the global economy, we will ne ver enjoy full economic and social justice.  
  Our major imperative is to meet the developmen t aspirations of our people, so that we can 
reduce poverty and provide for the citizens the basics of  food, shelter, clothing , education, healthcare 
and jobs. This is a simple statement, but a complex challenge.  Trade is, and could continue to be an 
important means of achieving these crucial goals of development. WT/MIN(09)/ST/108 
Page 2  
 
   While the multilateral trading system has worked  and served international trade  well, it has 
not sufficiently served the interests of the weak and vulnerable economies like Namibia.  In this 
regard, we wish to express the following concerns that should be examined when we are reviewing 
the activities of the WTO, including the Doha negotiations:  
 - uneven distribution of benefits in the mu ltilateral trading system which could risk the 
marginalizing of small developing countries in the global economy;  
  - inadequate flexibility in the use of appr opriate trade policy instruments to address our 
development challenges;  
 
 - implementation problems we experience due to our inadequate institutional and 
regulatory capacities at national levels; 
  - insufficient capacity and supply-side cons traints which have prevented Africa from 
fully exploiting market access opportunities.  In this regard, Aid for Trade is a 
welcome initiative from the WTO Director-General but its delivery is inadequate;  
  - enhancing Africa's participation in WTO policy-making processes and building the 
necessary trade capacities; and,  
 
 - support for the regional integration process in Africa. 
  Let me elaborate further on the latter aspect of regional integration.  Namibia believes that 
regionalism is an important building block for de veloping countries to integrate in the world 
economy.  However, regionalism s hould be guided by an enforceable set of rules. The WTO should 
therefore establish concrete operational sets of rules that would govern regional integration with the 
view to align regional integration in itiatives with multilateral rule-making. 
  The lack of clear rules and sometimes arbitr ary interpretations of existing and insufficient 
WTO rules in this area, by some powerful members of  this organization, have led to a situation where 
smaller economies are being coerced in signing bila teral agreements that go beyond the multilateral 
disciplines in fear of loss of market access and trade preferences. This is not a sustainable partnership 
model and we all have to be  treated like equal parties. 
The world has changed and we all have a contributio n to make that could make global prosperity a 
reality, and indeed, commensurate with our indivi dual technical, financial and trade capacities. 
 
 On the WTO negotiations, the Doha Developmen t Agenda negotiations are arguably the most 
complex and difficult yet undertaken, but Members agr eed to take up this challenge and pressed on 
vigorously with the negotiations.   A development Round should yield real gains in people’s lives, as well as tangible benefits 
for developing countries in whose favour the de velopment content of the Round was earmarked. 
Likewise, this should enable them to industriali ze, generate wealth and employment opportunities and 
ensure that trade contributes to poverty eradica tion and galvanize our efforts to achieve the 
Millennium Development Goals.   The litmus test for such a development outcome is to look beyond the principle of “single 
undertaking” which suggest that nothing is “agreed until everything is agreed” and deliver an early 
harvest development package that addresses the c oncerns of cotton producers, least developed 
countries, settle the issue of preference erosion,  special and differential treatment and address all 
outstanding implementation issues.   WT/MIN(09)/ST/108 
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   Therefore, we call upon all members to rekindle the spirit of unity and collectively resolve to 
conclude the Round in 2010 and show the world th at the WTO is alive and can deliver development-
friendly policies for the global trading system. The time is now.   On Aid for Trade, Namibia welcomes the co mmitments made by our development partners 
including the G20 Summit to avail an additiona l US$1.1 trillion program aimed at revitalizing the 
world economy. Namibia calls for the immediate fu lfilment of these commitments to help bring the 
world economy back on the growth path.    Finally, to sustain and accelerate progress, d ecisive actions need to be taken at global, 
regional and country levels. Trade can be an engine  for growth, with sound and targeted investments 
at all these levels, so that we address the large gaps  in our countries and meet the needs of the poor 
and most vulnerable.  
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