WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/31
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5314)
Original: French MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
CHAD
Statement byH.E. Mrs. Deneram Miantamare
Secretary ofState forTrade andIndustry
Itiswithgreat pleasure thatIshallbegin mystatement byconveying toyou,Mr.Chairman,
onbehalf ofthedelegation ofChad, myspecial greetings onyour election totheChair ofthis
Conference.
Ialsowishtoexpress mysincere gratitude totheGovernment andpeople ofSingapore for
theirwelcome andforthehospitality provided toallparticipants inthefirstbiennial ordinary meeting
oftheWorld Trade Organization (WTO) attheMinisterial level.
May Ialsothank theDirector-General oftheWTO andhisstaffforthevastamount of
preparatory work theyhavecarried outand,evenmore, fortheirconstant readiness toassist.
ThisConference isparticularly important because thesubjects tobediscussed areofconcern
toallMembers oftheWTO, butmore especially totheleast-developed countries. Bothatthenational
andinternational levels, indeveloped countries asindeveloping countries, social andeconomic policies
arebeing called intoquestion andparticipants inthisConference should seekwaysandmeans toenable
ourcountries toadapt theirinstitutional framework totheneweconomic situation arising outofthe
implementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements.
Themajority ofleast-developed countries, butmoreparticularly those inAfrica, haveofcourse
made efforts torestructure theireconomies either byobserving therulesestablished intheMarrakesh
Agreements orbyconcluding special agreements withtheBretton Woods institutions, namely the
International Monetary Fund andtheWorld Bank. Iftheexpected results aretobeachieved, however,
theirefforts mustreceive greater support fromdeveloped countries andspecialized institutions. Itis
therefore ourdutyaspolitical leaders toassume ourresponsibilities atthenational andinternational
levels.
Liketheother least-developed countries, Chad hopes thattheWTO Secretariat willorganize
ameeting ofitsMembers together withaidorganizations andmultilateral financing institutions such
astheInternational Monetary Fund, theWorld BankandtheUnited Nations Development Programme,
andtheleast-developed countries, inorder topromote anintegrated approach towards ways ofhelping
thesecountries tomeettheircommitments totheWTO andtoplayafullpartinthemultilateral trading
system.
Asregards future negotiations onmarket access forindustrial products, agriculture, services,
investment andtrade, andcompetition policy, mycountry supports theproposal bytheWTO Secretariat
toundertake studies onthese issues, butatthesame timeiturges theSecretariat towork closely with
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theSecretariat oftheUnited Nations Conference onTrade andDevelopment (UNCTAD) inorder to
ensure thatthedevelopment element isfullytaken intoaccount andithopes thattheSecretariat of
theOrganization ofAfrican Unity willbeallowed toparticipate asanobserver inthegroup thatwill
undertake these studies.
Anumber ofwell-founded proposals andrecommendations ontheaforementioned sectors have
beenmade bytheACP Group withtheassistance oftheWTO Secretariat andthese should begiven
careful consideration. Theproposals meettheneedforequity anddemonstrate thewilltocooperate
because theprosperity ofthedeveloping world willhelptomaintain thatoftheindustrialized countries.
Cooperation ismore essential thaneverinorder tocombat alltheillsthatafflict international
trade. Thismeeting should provide animportant opportunity fortheinternational community toreview
theproblems oftheleast-developed countries andadopt aplanofaction intheirfavour thatwillhelp
themtomeetthechallenges andderive substantial benefits fromthepotential advantages oftheUruguay
Round Agreements.
Iamconvinced thatattheendofthismeeting weshallbeabletoreach agreement because
ofthemany linksthatshould draw ournations together andbetheharbinger ofaneweraoffruitful
cooperation.
Isincerely hopethatourwork willmeetwithsuccess and,onceagain, Ithank you.