   
  
WT/MIN(24)/ST/116  
26 February 2024  
(24-1674) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth session  
Abu Dhabi, 26 -29 February 2024  Original: Spanish  
 
  
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR JOHANN ÁLVAREZ MÁRQUEZ  
DEPUTY MINISTER FOR FOREIGN TRADE  
AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION  
BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA  
On behalf of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and all 
our people, we welcome with enthusiasm this Thirteenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
Organization, a fitting occasion for us to discuss inclusive and fair trade rules, taking into account 
the strengths and weaknesses of all countries without ex ception.  
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of the United Arab Emirates  for 
hosting such an important event, and wish the Conference every success in its work.  
We also wish to convey warm greetings to WTO Director -General Dr Ngo zi Okonjo -Iweala , who 
is leading this strategic multilateral forum within the context of the significant challenges faced by 
humanity today.  
This Ministerial Conference is therefore an extraordinary opportunity to focus on frank and respectful 
dialogue. Su ch dialogue is needed if we are to salvage the essence of the WTO, which is experiencing 
one of its greatest crises in almost 30 years of existence  – a crisis that paralyses and prevents 
the adoption of relevant decisions that properly respond to changes i n the existing international 
order, an order that is pluricentric and multipolar.  
The resistance shown by some Members of this Organization to recognizing this new order has 
strengthened the link between trade and security , but an individualistic form of s ecurity, marked 
by the use of unilateral coercive economic and trade measures and the discrediting of 
multilateralism. Such actions have caused the world to fragment into blocs and have undermined 
the credibility of the Organization and hampered its abilit y to respond to problems.  
This situation has demonstrated the fragility of the global trading system and the international 
financial system that is the mainstay of its operations, and has made these systems contingent upon 
particular interests, which affe cts global supply chains, economic and trade freedom and, in turn, 
global economic governance. Through these unilateral coercive measures, trade benefits are granted 
to certain countries on a discretionary basis, affecting not only the target country, but also a larger 
group of related countries; this violates WTO rules and international law.  
It is therefore vital to restore  the two tiers of the Dispute Settlement Body to a fully 
functioning state  and to break the six-year-long impasse regarding the appoin tment of new 
Appellate Body members. No unilateral concern should impede the selection process for new 
members  of this body . 
• Furthermore, the WTO system must provide for and guarantee the rights of all Member 
States in terms of equality, equity and justice , without any traces of hegemonism, which 
undermine s multilateralism.  
These restrictions are present in the unlawful and criminal unilateral coercive measures taken 
against the Venezuelan people , which, between 2015 and 2022, generated, in terms of a decl ine 
in GDP, total losses to the domestic economy of around 642 billion dollars . This caused an  WT/MIN(24)/ST/116  
 
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  economic genocide, in which Venezuela's international financial operations were blocked in various 
international financial institutions and free trade in Venezuelan goods and services was threatened 
and impeded in an act of economic aggression with a view to stifl ing the country, tarnish ing its 
reputation and weaken ing its institutio nal framework.  
Despite this situation, however, the heroic Venezuelan people have grown in the face of adversity 
and, thanks to a strong sense of national unity, Venezuela has gone from being a net food -importing 
country to one that is self -sufficient in over 97%  of the products it consumes.  Domestic agricultural 
production has increased by 5.5%  and we are going from being a country that produces one sole 
product to being recognized as an exporter of non -oil products such as shrimp, coffee, cocoa 
and rum , with significant growth in the international market presence of these products  in recent 
years. It is important to note that Venezuela has resumed its trajectory of growth , and expects to 
see GDP growth of 4% in 2024.  
In this new context, Venezuela is focusing its foreign trade policy on negotiating better market access 
conditions for its goods and services exports, as well as for those of other WTO Members, which will 
provide them with quicker access to all the product s that are part of our non -traditional exportable 
supply, in accordance with the Trade Facilitation Agreement, to which we are acceding at this 
Ministerial Conference.  
Interest in investing in Venezuela is also clear from the many new projects being implem ented in 
various sectors through the International Centre for Productive Investment (CIIP). For this reason, 
at this Ministerial Conference, Venezuela will join the  WTO-led Joint Initiative on Investment 
Facilitation for Development .  
I would like to concl ude my statement by reiterating the commitment of Venezuela, its people and 
the Bolivarian Government of President Nicol ás Maduro to continue working constructively with the 
World Trade Organization to bring new perspectives and identify new ways of estab lishing a genuine 
multilateral trading system that represents the new pluricentric and multipolar order within the 
framework of the WTO Agreements  – a strong, supportive and fair system based on common and 
transparent rules, in which all voices are heard a nd taken into account and which responds to the 
interests of the Global South and the peoples of the world.  
__________  