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Indonesia Supports the Nairobi Ministerial Conference to Continue the Implementation of the Bali Package
Nairobi, 17 December 2015 – The Indonesian Minister of Trade, Thomas Trikasih Lembong supports the 10th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference to achieve an agreement of any size to continue the development issues and the implementation of the Bali Package.
The most significant development of the WTO occurred in 2013 at the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali with the birth of the Bali Package. The Bali Package, which comprises issues on agriculture, trade facilitation, and development; have contributed to the reformation of global trade. The signing of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in Bali has managed to decrease cost of world trade by up to 14%.
Trade Minister Tom said that after the MC9 in Bali, at the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, the WTO is once again faced with the challenge of continuing the development issue and implementing the Bali Package. “No matter how difficult the condition and how wide the gap, all members of the WTO must continue to be grounded in reality and see the dynamics of the economy, technology, and demography currently developing in the world. The diversity of political dimensions and technical disparity must not be an obstacle too great to overcome for the members of the WTO to collaborate to reach some sort of agreement,” said the Trade Minister on the sidelines of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday (15/12).
Trade Minister Tom does admit that the development agenda within the multilateral trade cooperation that has been fought for by developing countries since the Ministerial Conference in Doha in 2001 is not easy to achieve because of the huge gap in position particularly between the developed countries on one side and the developing and least developed countries on the other. However, Tom is optimistic that the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi can produce an outcome that is meaningful to developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs).
“This is the first time that the WTO Ministerial Conference is held in the Continent of Africa with a premise of many messages from developing countries and LDCs. May the message of development delivered by the President of Kenya, the President of Liberia, and the President of Uganda at the opening of the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi be realized,” added Trade Minister Tom.
On the other hand, the Director General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, also emphasized that the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi must produce a credible and balanced outcome that also must be doable.
The 10th WTO Ministerial Conference was will be held on 15-18 December 2015 in Nairobi after it has been officially opened by the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, at the Kenya International Convention Center in Nairobi, Kenya.
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ASEAN Consolidation for the RCEP Negotiations
On the sidelines of the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, the member countries of ASEAN also held an informal meeting to discuss the developments of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. The meeting was chaired by Malaysia as the host of the event and Indonesia as the Chairman of the RCEP Negotiations.
“ASEAN needs to strengthen its solidity to finalize the RCEP negotiations and keep a close eye on the dynamics of the global and regional economy, which could have implications on countries in the ASEAN region such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the status of the Renminbi currency as a special drawing right along with the American Dollar, the Yen, the Pound Sterling, and the Euro,” said Trade Minister Tom.
At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the RCEP Negotiations Team, Iman Pambagyo, explained about the latest status regarding the RCEP negotiations and the future steps that needs to be taken in order to finalize the RCEP negotiations. The ministers of ASEAN once again hoped for Indonesia’s strong and credible leadership to accelerate the RCEP negotiations process.
Related to the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, the ASEAN ministers also stated their support of the continuity of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) oriented on the aspect of development. Besides that, they also supported the multilateral trade system with improvements in various sectors to reach an agreement that is beneficial for all members, particularly developing countries and LDCs.
Trade and Development Symposium
Before the opening ceremony of the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Nairobi, Trade Minister Tom also attended the High Level Panel as speaker held by the E-15 initiatives-International Centre on Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi along with other expert sources, namely the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Lilianne Plouman; a Professor from Hong Kong University, Patrick Low; the Chief Executive of ICTSD, Ricardo Melenez Ortiz; the Canadian Ambassador to the WTO, Jonathan T. Fried; and the Managing Director of the WEF, Richard Samans.
This discussion raises the issue on sustainability of the world trade system, which has been the main focus of the WTO, namely the capability to keep up with the developments and dynamics of the current global economy, to boost the development of the global value chain, and to develop the investment architecture with respect to the multilateral trade agreement due to the current global economic trend, which relies heavily on the trade and investment system.
Related to that, Trade Minister Tom stated that he would help find a solution to the impasse in WTO negotiations. “The member countries should have a positive attitude in conducting negotiations. Indonesia’s current position is to bridge the difference between developed and developing countries,” said the Trade Minister.
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For further information please contact:
Ani Mulyati Head of Public Relations Center Ministry of Trade Phone/Fax: 021-3860371/021-3508711 Email: [email protected]
Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono Acting Director of Multilateral Cooperation Directorate General of International Trade Cooperation Ministry of Trade Phone/Fax: 021-3840139 Email: [email protected]
