ABU DHABI (WAM)
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference resulted in very good decisions and thanked the UAE for the successful organisation of the global event.
In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Friday night, the international official said, “We're very grateful to the government of the UAE and to His Excellency, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, for a very successful meeting. We worked hard. It was tough, but we delivered thanks to his chairmanship."
“So we're exceedingly grateful. And the arrangements were wonderful. I see very positively; we were able to close some negotiating files. We've got some very good results for developing countries and least developed. Yes, we were not able to close some other files, but, you know, we'll continue working on them in Geneva.”
The WTO 13th Ministerial Conference which concluded in Abu Dhabi approved an extension to the TRIPS Waiver, enabling developing countries to increase vaccine production capacity for COVID-19 and future pandemics.
The WTO Ministerial Conference also affirmed the continuation of efforts to reform the Dispute Settlement System (DSS).
This reform aims to establish a comprehensive, effective, and accessible system for all members by the end of 2024. To achieve this, the final statement emphasises the need for inclusive and transparent discussions to build upon existing progress and address remaining challenges, including those related to the Appellate Body.
Additionally, WTC member countries agreed to the extension of a moratorium on e-commerce tariffs until the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in 2026. This decision marks a significant achievement for the conference, which tackled extensive negotiations on several key issues impacting the future of global trade.