ۥ-  *******88888 B L0000000004dg SPEECH BY COMMERCE MINISTER DUING THE PLENARY SESSION, MC 7, ON 01 DECEMBER 2009. Thank You Mr. Chairman, Excellencies Ministers, Ambassadors, Distinguished Delegates and Observers, Mr. Chairman, Let me place on record my delegations appreciation to you for convening this Ministerial Conference, the excellent arrangements made by Director General ϲʹ and the Swiss Government for facilitating the Conference. Mr. Chairman, From where I stand I can see the perceived uncertainties surrounding the current Round of trade negotiations launched at Doha. I am also mindful of the progress so far made in moving these negotiations forward. As a developing country Member, we in Pakistan pin our hopes on successful conclusion of this Round. We need to bring clarity and certainty to the rules governing multilateral trade and provide institutional strength to the system to guard against all forms of protectionism. Mr. Chairman, we are not pessimistic about the ability of the ϲʹ Membership to bridge the gaps still existing in various areas of negotiations and are hopeful that after this meeting a positive resolve will emerge to conclude the Round even earlier than the target of 2010 suggested by the Director General Lamy in his speech yesterday. As we moved from Doha, we have, indeed, achieved milestones which are significant and important for the LDCs, the developing countries and also for the developed Members of the ϲʹ. These milestones provide the direction and identify the objective that need to be achieved for encouraging free trade and achieving universal prosperity. I need not recount the important decisions taken in the Ministerial Conferences since Doha, whether they cover the LDCs, the developing countries or the developed Members of the ϲʹ. The task before us is to own the decisions already made by us and to move the process forward whole-heartedly. The political will expressed by our leaders needs to be translated into positive action to overcome our differences. Mr. Chairman, a lot has been said, and I am sure, will be said by my colleagues regarding the problems that have arisen due to global economic downturn and the recessionary trends for the whole comity of nations. Today we are standing at a point where we can make history. The choice is simple; we cannot allow the global trading system to continue suffering from indecisions and stagnation. A world of opportunity awaits us. We can either provide strength to free trade and ensure prosperity for the weakest amongst us or we can let this opportunity slip by. The latter is not an option. Mr. Chairman, I firmly believe that we need to refocus our energies on strengthening the ϲʹ and all it stands for, through moving the negotiations forward for a successful conclusion as soon as possible but not later than end-2010. In doing so, we will reconfirm our belief in the system, in the institution of the ϲʹ and in ourselves as responsible Members who can deliver a new chapter in the history of the global trading system. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, we in Pakistan reaffirm our resolve to work with all the Members for achieving these objectives and targets. Thank you. * 0?AQ+:#d üF     Tms Rmn `Symbol HelvTimes New Roman Arial CalibriTimes New Roman CETimes New Roman CyrTimes New Roman GreekTimes New Roman TurTimes New Roman (Hebrew)Times New Roman (Arabic)Times New Roman BalticTimes New Roman (Vietnamese) Arial CE Arial Cyr Arial Greek Arial Tur Arial (Hebrew) Arial (Arabic) Arial Baltic Arial (Vietnamese) Calibri CE Calibri Cyr Calibri Greek Calibri Tur Calibri Baltic"   gPSPEECH BY COMMERCE MINISTER DUING THE PLENARY SESSION, MC 7, ON 01 DECEMBER 2009Ruqqiamorgans