| Statement by H. E. Ambassador Sun Zhenyu at the Informal Trade Negotiations Committee Meeting |
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| Friday,April 18,2008 Posted: 16:28 BJT(0828 GMT) |
| From:wto mission Article type:Original |
Mr. Chairman,
We thank you for your assessment of the situation and for your specific plan in the next stage of negotiations.
As we are entering into the crucial stage of the negotiations, we must keep on reminding ourselves that this is the Development Round. The most important objective of the Round is to meet the development needs of the developing countries, particularly the LDCs. We therefore strongly urge the chairs of all negotiating bodies to provide their revised draft texts or reports that will deliver the Development Mandate. I hope the chairs will take into full considerations on the proposals from developing country Member groupings such as G20, G33, NAMA11, Cotton4, LDCs, SVEs, ACP, African Group and RAMs. To what extent their concerns and demands are addressed would probably decide whether we could get everyone on board for the final results.
On Service, Signaling Conference should be a two-way process. The major demanders should first indicate what they are going to offer in the sectors of export interests for developing countries.
On rules, the overwhelming majority of Members prefer to have revised text from the chair before horizontal process which should address the issue of balance and put fair and balanced options in the text as a basis for the next stage negotiations.
On the issue of CBD, there is a strong indication from majority of developing countries for a result which should be more than just chair’s report.
On process, we are all aware that our time is very limited. We have to accelerate the process. At the same time, substances have to drive the process. The principle of transparency and inclusiveness is of crucial importance. How to make sure that each and every Member feels comfortable that they are part of the negotiations, their concerns and proposals are dealt with seriously is a major challenge. It is therefore necessary to combine small group meetings with regular open-ended meetings and allow sufficient time for Members to study the draft texts, contact the capitals and provide feedback and inputs for the negotiations.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(17 April, 2008) |
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