./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/45
10 November 2001
(01-5616)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth SessionDoha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
HUNGARY
Statement by H.E. Mr Péter Balás
Deputy Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Let me start by expressing, on behalf of the Hungarian delegation, my deepest gratitude to the
Emir H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to  you Mr Chairman, the Government and the people
of Qatar for hosting the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO.  We truly appreciate and enjoy
the warm hospitality and the excellent working conditions provided.
The Hungarian delegation arrived with great expectations to this conference, which takes
place at a crucial point of time.  We strongly hope, and indeed believe, that during the Doha
Conference the remaining differences between positions of delegations can successfully be bridged
and the WTO will be able to launch an ambitious, inclusive and broad-based round of multilateral
trade negotiations.  The excellent draft texts prepared by Ambassador Harbinson, to whom we areextremely grateful for his invaluable contribution, provide a very good basis for this work.  The new
round, in our view, should combine negotiations aimed at improving market access for goods and
services with the establishment of new WTO rules and the clarification and improvement of existing
ones.  We believe that a sufficiently broad negotiating package is needed to create an adequate
possibility for trade-offs and share the view that the outcome of the negotiations should form a single
undertaking.  We are convinced that only such an approach can ensure that the important mandated
negotiations on agriculture, services and geographical indications yield substantive results.  For us itis beyond doubt that a new WTO round is necessary and that the time is ripe to embark on this great
joint effort.  Let me just briefly address some of the underlying reasons:
First, we think that a new round is needed to demonstrate, in the aftermath of the tragic events
of 11 September, the determination of the in ternational community to advance multilateral
cooperation.  Like, I trust, the entire WTO Membership we feel that the terrorist assault on the
United States was a strike against openness and liberty, common values that are at the heart of the
WTO system.  For we share the view that trade is much more than economic efficiency and that it is
an invaluable vehicle for promoting openness, freedom of choice, mutual gains through peaceful
interchange and the rule of law.  In our view, WTO Ministers should send an unmistakable signalthrough the launch of the new round that WTO Members are collectively committed to advancing
these values and reject terrorism.
Second, the present situation of the world economy is becoming a serious concern for all of
us;  above all since recession is looming in all three of its major power centres.  Any economicdownturn increases the pressure on governments to resort to measures aimed at keeping out foreign
competition, threatening in particular the smallest, weakest and the most open of countries.  The
current situation, because the business cycles in the major markets seem to be largely in sync,
exacerbates these risks.  In our view, the most effective way of forestalling this is through the
launching of a new round and pledging to refuse the temptation of protectionist action.  Our failing todo so would send a disastrous signal to economic operators and, in the end, every WTO Member
would lose.  The list of causalities could be very long, ranging from farmers and factory workers toWT/MIN(01)/ST/45
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service suppliers and investors in all WTO Members.  However, we fear that the developing
countries, and in particular, the least-developed ones would suffer disproportionately, because of their
greater economic vulnerability.
Third, WTO Members collectively stumbled badly two years ago in Seattle when making the
first attempt to launch a new round.  There can be no doubt that another failure would have a lasting if
not irreparable negative impact on the international standing, relevance and credibility of the WTO
and, indeed, the multilateral trading system.  In the resulting situation the already existing trends of
pursuing liberalization in a regional context could become exclusive, lacking the needed parallel
process of multilateral trade liberalization.  We believe that the constantly growing Membership of the
WTO testifies to the importance countries attach to this system and its principles of openness and
non-discrimination.  Therefore we have no other op tion but to make sure that the Doha Conference
puts the WTO back on track.
Fourth, globalization, driven by the IT revolution and the flow of goods, services as well as
investment, is with us whether we like it or not.  Under the right circumstances this process can be a
powerful engine of economic growth, but it can also have disruptive, undesirable effects, such as thepossible abuse of dominant market positions, if left unregulated.  In our view globalization offers a
real opportunity to achieve higher economic growth and living standards throughout the world, but
multilateral rules are needed to ensure that its benefits are distributed fairly.  Accordingly, one of the
key expectations of Hungary is that clear decisions will be made here in Doha to start devising
multilateral rules for foreign direct investment and competition policy in order to harnessglobalization.  For the same reason we attach considerable importance to the clarification of certain
WTO rules in connection with sustainable development.
Let me also say a few words about why Hungary supports the start of new global trade talks.
For our country the most important economic objective of the next years is to maintain a verydynamic rate of growth resulting in our effective catching-up with the member States of the European
Union.  Since Hungary is a small and open economy dependent to a very large extent on external
economic relations, one of the most important preconditions of the attainment of this goal is a
supportive and stable external economic environment.  We are convinced that a well-functioning
multilateral trading system, strengthened and updated by a new round that encompasses rule-making
in addition to market access, will be a crucial element in ensuring this needed stability and
supportiveness.
Hungary's commitment to the WTO system and to its strengthening is rooted in the
experience we gained in the 1990s, during the successful completion of economic transition.  In a
decade, the Hungarian economic policy guided by WTO philosophy based on openness and
liberalization yielded impressive gains in terms of economic efficiency, productivity and internationalcompetitiveness.  Trade figures speak for themselves:  the value of Hungarian exports grew by
400 per cent in the past decade whereby Hungary realized one of the fastest rates of export growth in
the world and, as a result, the country doubled its share in world trade.  Today, counting EU as one,
Hungary ranks 25
th and 23rd among WTO Members in the export of goods and services respectively.
These positive trends and indeed the modernization of the Hungarian economy are closely connectedwith our success in attracting substantial and stable inflows of FDI, while Hungarian companies,
though to a lesser extent, have also started to invest abroad.  All this underlines the great interest
Hungary has in maintaining and expanding the multilateral trading system.
In this spirit, our delegation has followed an in clusive approach during the preparation to the
Doha Conference.  We are determined to continue this approach during our work here and wish to
pledge to you our full support for your efforts.  We are convinced that under your able guidance the
Doha Conference is destined for success.
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