WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/16 
15 December 2011  
 
(11-6562) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English/ 
 Spanish 
 
  
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
 
Statement by Sr César Dargam Espaillat 
Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations for Economic Affairs and Trade Negotiations 
 
 
On behalf of the Government of the Do minican Republic I would like to thank the 
Swiss Government and the Canton of Geneva for the excellent organization of this Eighth Ministerial 
Conference.  We would also like to express our si ncere gratitude to the WTO Secretariat, to its 
Director-General Mr Pascal Lamy, to the Chairman  of this Conference H.E. Mr Olusegun Olutoyin 
Aganga, Nigerian Trade Minister, and to the Chairm an of the General Council,  Ambassador Frederick 
Agah, for the work they have done in  preparation for this Conference. 
  I shall make the following declaration in E nglish, on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries. 
  We, Ministers and heads of delegation of the Informal Group of Developing Countries, comprised of 120 Members, met in Geneva on 15 December 2011 on the occasion of the Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference. 
 
 We remain deeply concerned about the serious  economic and financial situation that affects 
developed and developing economies alike.  We underline the need for a strong, open, predictable and 
fair, rules-based multilateral trading system, and agre e to strengthen and make it more responsive to 
the needs of the developing countries in order to  stimulate growth, employment and development. 
 
 We underscore the importance that significan t forward movement in the Doha Development 
Round can play in addressing the present global econo mic challenges, and the developmental benefits 
it can bring to our people.  We therefore comm it ourselves to the earliest conclusion of the 
Doha Development negotiations in accordance with  its mandate, based on the progress already made. 
 
We strongly underscore the centrality of devel opment in the Doha Round of negotiations.  We 
are disappointed that political commitments to see k an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the 
Round in 2011 did not translate into c oncrete flexible negotiating positions. 
  We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to  reach all of the objectives set out in the 
Doha Ministerial Declaration that launched the curre nt round of negotiations.  We stand firmly behind 
the principles under which this Round was launched including, developmental issues at the centre of 
the work, a single undertaking, tran sparency and inclusiveness.  We also highlight the importance for 
developing countries of continued reform and liber alization of trade in agricultural products, among 
them cotton.  
We strongly support respect of the principle of single undertaking in achieving the 
Doha development mandate, and stress that any early harvest in areas wh ere consensus arises as WT/MIN(11)/ST/16 
Page 2  
 
  provided by paragraph 47 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration must give priority to development 
issues, particularly LDC specific issues.   We also subscribe to the view that the WTO is more than the Doha Round.  We affirm the 
WTO's role as the guarantor of the multilateral trad ing system, and as a bulwark against all forms of 
protectionism, while recognizing the developmental needs, as well as, the full WTO rights and 
obligations of Members.   In this respect we believe it is important to strengthen the functioning of the regular bodies 
and mechanisms of the organization, in partic ular, the Committee on Trade and Development shall 
continue to be the focal point and coordinator of  all development-related activities in WTO, including 
the implementation of special and differential treatment  provisions.  Furthermore, it is fundamental to 
establish the monitoring mechanism on special and diffe rential treatment;  as well as to review with a 
view to adopting the proposals contained in Annex C of the Draft Cancún Ministerial Declaration. 
 
 We want to also underscore the importance of  ensuring adherence to the principle of Full 
Participation Inclusiveness and Transparency (FIT) in all areas of future wo rk in the WTO.  The 
interest of all Members must be adequately reflect ed in the outcomes achieved in the work of this 
Organization which can only be obtained through the inclusion of all Members in the negotiating 
process.  
 We reiterate the significance of the Aid-fo r-Trade initiative and recognize the progress that 
has been made since its launch in 2005.  Financing must be predictable, sustainable, effective and 
untied from conditionalities.  Aid for Trade must be demand driven and also take into account the 
regional dimension, involvement of the private sector, effective monitoring and evaluation, and 
mainstreaming at all levels by both donors and r ecipients.  Additionally, due attention should be paid 
to the situation of the more needy Members esp ecially the LDCs and small, vulnerable economies 
without creating a sub-category of Members.   We thank donors for their continued support to the Aid-for-Trade initiative and the WTO's 
Global Trust Fund, and urge them to increase thei r disbursements while maintaining their current 
levels of commitments. 
 
 We strongly advocate for the reinforcemen t of the WTO's technical assistance and 
capacity-building functions including, among others, increasing capacity in developing countries to 
use dispute resolution mechanisms.  
 We welcome the accession of the Russian Federa tion, Samoa, Vanuatu and Montenegro to the 
Organization and reaffirm our support for the ear ly accession of other developing countries.  We 
stress that acceding countries should not be asked to undertake commitments that go beyond their level of development and current WTO rules.  We also welcome as a significant step forward the Draft Decision on LDC Accessions and urge its adoption by Ministers at MC8.  
We welcome and support the adoption by Ministers at MC8 of decisions of particular interest 
to developing countries including the decisions on:  the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, 
the Work Programme on Small Economies, the tr ansition period for LDCs under Article 66.1 of 
TRIPS, LDC Accession, and LDC services waiver.   WT/MIN(11)/ST/16 
 Page 3 
 
 
   We are united in our commitment to continue  to forge a rules-based multilateral trading 
system that has development at its core and responds to the needs and expectations of the majority of 
its Members which are developing countries.  
__________