WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/9 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5936) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session 
Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:  French 
 
 
 
FRANCE 
 
Statement by HE Mrs Christine Lagarde  
Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade  
  
 Marrakesh, Punta del Este, S eattle, Doha, Geneva, Ca ncún, Hong Kong:  perhaps, after all, 
the negotiations are nothing but taking regular breaks with friends in a sunny city or mountain resort. 
  One might be forgiven for thinking so if one considers the fruits of the work done in our 
travels in the ten or so years since the WTO was f ounded.  Fortunately, Hong Kong provides us with a 
unique opportunity to prove the sceptics and cy nics wrong, to show them that multilateralism 
continues to be the "least bad system" and that it can still bear fruit. 
  No effort has been spared by our hosts and I would like to thank them for all they have done.  The Government and the people of the Hong Kong Sp ecial Administrative Region have welcomed us 
with singular warmth and professionalism.  In doing so, they have provided us with the best possible 
conditions in which to make the decisions needed to pursue a path towards world economic growth, 
which, as we agreed in Doha , will above all benefit the men and women of every country and 
especially the poorest. 
 
 We know that the road ahead will be difficult and that our task is a considerable one.  In order 
to find solutions, we can count first and foremost on the protection of Feng Shui ("Fong Choui"), the 
good spirit of Hong Kong, whose efficiency in trade can be seen in the development of this city, 
which is unequalled in Asia and in the world.   We must first and foremost count on our common resolve to move forward .  Every country 
must make the necessary efforts to achieve a balanced outcome in which everyone is a winner. 
 
 France very much hopes for the success of the Hong Kong Conference and will put all its 
energy into achieving it, focusing its actions on tw o priorities:  (i) development and (ii) the overall 
balance of the Round.  
 First of all, we must put development back at  the heart of the Round.  This is a moral, 
political and economic obligation.  Priority for deve lopment was referred to by President Chirac in 
Bamako ten days ago, at the 23
rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of Africa and France.  
He emphasized the pressing need to give renewed hope to young Africans, and through them to young 
people in all developing countries, young people who are open to the world and whom we cannot let 
down. 
 
 This week we must make specific proposals so  that the ideal of a more open and a fairer 
world becomes reality.  Our immediate task is to identify and resolve the most serious difficulties 
facing the poorest countries: 
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 • We believe that development requires duty- and quota-free access for products from 
the least developed countries, such as is proposed by the EU's "Everything but Arms" 
initiative for LDC's.  It is now time for the promises made in Geneva in July 2004 to 
become firm commitments on the part of the developed countries and, of the 
emerging countries able to undertake them. 
 
• We believe that development requires soluti ons in the area of special and differential 
treatment.  We will not succeed unless we  are able to focus our efforts on the 
countries where they are really needed.  Specific measures for LDCs are therefore a 
priority at this ministerial conference. 
 
• We believe that development requires a concrete response to cotton-related issues.  In 
Hong Kong this week, we must obtain clear commitments that respond to this 
problem in a sustainable, expeditious and ambitious manner.  We must not forget that 
the livelihoods of more than 20 million Africans are at stake.   
 
• We support an increase in aid for trade wh ich is needed to accompany the inevitable 
adjustment efforts.  France is already one of the most generous donors in this field. It 
assigns almost two per cent of its bilateral ai d to trade-related issues and is willing to 
do even better.  However, an increase in aid for trade should in no circumstances be a 
substitute for negotiations which really addr ess the concerns of the poorest countries.  
 
 These decisions are difficult, but not impossible.   The incorporation into the TRIPS 
Agreement of provisions needed to ensure least-de veloped countries' access to medicines is a very 
encouraging sign and must be followed by other such achievements. 
 
This package of measures is necessary, but it w ill not be enough to ensure the success of the 
conference in terms of a balanced outcome to the Round.   Progress made here in Hong Kong must be 
adequate on all issues in order to form a high  altitude "base camp" from which the 150 WTO 
Members will be able to make the final ascent to the "summit":  an agreement consistent with the 
Doha Declaration. 
 
France and the European Union, for their part, ar e prepared to make this ascent:  they gauged 
the nature of the Doha commitment right at the beginning of the Round.  Decisions which were 
necessary, but which had serious consequences for European agriculture, were made during the reform of the CAP.   France and its European partners have shown their determination to attain a 
balanced outcome while respecting the negotiating ma ndate established at the European Commission.   
 
More recently, the European Union revealed its ambition in its conditional, final and 
comprehensive offer of 28 October.  It submitted a serious proposal on agriculture which makes use 
of  all available room for manoeuvre and sets out its expectations for the other areas on which the 
agriculture offer depends.  It is now therefore the turn of the emerging countries and the other 
developed countries to engage in these negotiations by genuinely and significantly opening up their 
markets for industrial products and services.  As regards services, where negotiations are very much 
behind schedule, only a new negotiating method will allow us to obtain results consistent with our 
ambitions.  France would particularly like to introd uce numerical targets to be reflected in every 
country's offer and engage in in-depth discussions w ith any countries wishing to take things further.  
It is also time for the developed countries to join the European Union in reducing their trade-distorting 
agricultural subsidies. 
 
I would like to conclude my statement by reiterating France's hopes for a successful outcome 
in Hong Kong - a prelude to a final bala nced and ambitious Doha Round agreement.   Montesquieu 
taught us that "wherever we find agreeable manners, there commerce flourishes; and wherever there is  WT/MIN(05)/ST/9 
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 commerce, there we meet with agreeable manners".  The world we live in is in need of agreeable 
manners and I am convinced that, in these difficult times, the success of these WTO negotiations 
would be a success not only in terms of trade.  Success would give credence to those who believe in a 
fairer multilateral system, to those who believe that  149 countries can still join forces to face the 
challenges of a globalized world and to those who reject the inevitability of an inward-looking world 
that excludes half of all humanity from the benefits of globalization. 
 
We have heard the hopes of our citizens and the ambitions of our businesses, just as we have 
heard their frustrations, their indignation and their refusal to accept such a fate.  We have heard them; 
it is now time to respond. 
 
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