WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/7
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1968)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
CYPRUS
Statement circulated byH.E. Mr.Nicos Rolandis
Minister ofCommerce, Industry andTourism
Iamparticularly happy torepresent theRepublic ofCyprus atthesecond Ministerial meeting
since thesigning atMarrakesh oftheFinal ActoftheUruguay Round andtheestablishment ofthe
World Trade Organization.
Iwould likeattheoutsit tocongratulate theSwiss Government ontheirhardworkanddedication
inorganizing thisConference andthank them fortheirhospitality andfriendship.
Webelieve Geneva wasthebestchoice ofacitytoholdtheseimportant events, theMinisterial
Conference aswellasthecelebration oftheFiftieth Anniversary oftheMultilateral Trading System.
Onbehalf ofmyGovernment, Iwould liketoexpress myhighest appreciation totheDirector-
General oftheWTO, Mr.Renato Ruggiero, andhisstafffortheirefforts andhardwork inrunning
theorganization andfortheexcellent arrangements fortheConference.
Wegather atthisMeeting toreview andevaluate theprogress made sofarintheimplementation
ofthedecisions oftheUruguay Round Agreements andthethreeyears experience fromtheestablishment
oftheWTO. Weshallalsobediscussing andanalyzing thefuture activities oftheWTO.
Considering thesmall domestic market andopen nature oftheCyprus economy, access to
internationalmarketsisofutmostimportanceforCyprustoachieveitsoverallgoalofthehighestpossible
rateofeconomic growth, fullemployment andwelfare.
Cyprus, asatrading nation, stands fortradeliberalization. Forourpart,wehavetaken seriously
theneedfortimely implementation ofourownWTO obligations. Inanumber ofareas, wehave
proceeded tomeetourundertakings atafaster ratethanisrequired.
Wehavealsoeliminated export restrictions andestablished arules-based, transparent trading
andinvestment environment. Newlegislation onissues suchassimplifying procedures forpublic
procurement,harmonizedstandardsandprotectingtheenvironmentareintheprocessofbeingcompleted
andwillbeinlinewiththose oftheEuropean Union andWTO rules.
Given therapidly growing areaoftrade inservices, Cyprus hasmade newoffers onfinancial
andbasictelecommunicationsservices.ItismyGovernment'sintentiontoachievegreaterliberalization,
eventually making itsinward andoutward investment regime inthose fields more open, stable and
liberal.WT/MIN(98)/ST/7
Page2
Withregard tointellectual property, anewTrademarks andPatent legislation hasrecently been
enacted bringing itintoconformity withtheTRIPS Agreement.
Itisaparticular pleasure toconfirm thatCyprus assession negotiations withtheEUhavealready
started. Weviewourprospective membership totheEUasameans togreater integration intheglobal
economy, andconsider thisregional agreement tobecomplementary totheMultilateral Trading System
andconsistent withtherelevant WTO rules.
Under theCustom Union Agreement, Cyprus hasapplied theEU'scommon external tariff
onagreat number ofproducts, thetariffs ofwhich arelower thantheratesbound inWTO.
Harmonization withtheEUacquis communautaire isinprocess andCyprus isgradually, among
otherthings, adopting thecommunity legislation ontradeandfinancial liberalization, foreign investment
andcompetition law.
With alonghistory oftrade andaunique geographical location, withitsvastexperience in
thefieldofcommerce andtradeandtheprospective membership withtheEU,Cyprus willstrengthen
itsimportant position asatrading centre; ouraimistobecome Europe 'sspringboard forexpansion
intheregion. Wehaveexcellent relations withallourneighbours andourisland canbeusedasan
international, commercial, financial andservices centre oftheregion.
Werecognize thattradeliberalization isanessential feature ofourefforts topromote sustainable
growth, increase living standards andprovide employment forourpeople. Theimmense advances
inscience andtechnology present uswithgreat opportunities toembark onarapid development of
ourhuman andmaterial resources andthrough concerted international action topromote technological
progress andprosperity onaglobal scale.
TheWorld Trade Organization isinaunique position toplayaleading roleinthishistoric
mission. Notonlydoesitprovide theforum andmechanism forthispurpose, butitalsopossesses
those characteristics andoperates onthose principles which areosvitally important inanincreasingly
interdependent world. Therecent financial turbulence ineastAsiashould notdeter usfromspeeding
upliberalization.
Thepresence onthisimportant occasion ofsomany highpolitical personalities, offers aunique
opportunity topromote further thegoalofglobal tradeliberalization. Weshould sendastrong message
thatthisisasuccessful andsubstantive meeting strengthening themultilateral trading system, furthering
trade liberalization andbuilding aframework andtheinstitutions forstronger andfairer rules. But
wemust becareful nottosetdemands intheWTO regulations oshighthatitmakes agreement
impossible. Alltheissues should bediscussed inaconciliatory spirit anddecided byconsensus.
Intoday'sdifficult andhighly competitive economic andsocial environment, wemustensure
thatbenefits andopportunities ofglobal integration areaccrued tothedeveloping andtheleast-developed
countries andeconomies intransition; these countries mustbehelped tointegrate intotheworld trade
order anditmust bemade surethattheyarenotmarginalized.
Inaddition, theproblems faced bysmall countries likeCyprus should notbeoverlooked.
Substantial adjustment costs areassociated withtheliberalization oftheireconomies, andtechnical
assistance would berequired toincrease theirunderstanding oftheobligations andrights under the
newtrading system.WT/MIN(98)/ST/7
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While agreatnumber ofmember countries aregathered hereinGeneva, someimportant trading
countries suchasRussia, China andothers arestillwaiting tojointheWTO. Wehopethattheongoing
procedure fortheirmembership iscompleted atthesoonest.
LetmeclosewiththehopethatthisConference willmark thecontinuation of50years ofefforts
inthemultilateral trading liberalization process inaspirit ofopenness tothechallenges ahead ofus,
motivated bytheconfident knowledge thateconomic growth isachieved byconsensus, toeveryone 's
advantage.
Itmust nowbetheeraofconciliation andcollaboration forthecommon good ofmankind.
Wemustwork, inrealpartnership, topromote theeconomic andsocial development forthestability
andprosperity ofallthecountries oftheworld.
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