Hong Kong

Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr. the Honourable Errol Cort, address the plenary of the WTO Ministerial Conference, at 10:30pm, Friday night (10:30 am Saturday in Hong Kong).

"Within the five (5) minutes allotted to each delegation to make a statement, made use of the opportunity to inform the plenary -- and the millions who were following the proceeding via WTO Secretariat's "webcast" over the Internet - of the things my government has done or intends to do as part of our national process of reform, good governance and institutional strengthening," said Minister Cort.

"I also highlighted our concerns with some of the issues under negotiation at this conference, including non-agricultural market access (NAMA) and services. But I did so from the perspective of the small, vulnerable economies, which is how Antigua and Barbuda' economy is categorized within the WTO process," he said.

With just one day left before the Conference concludes on Sunday, the Minister noted the pressure is beginning to build on ministers, who are now working with a greater sense of urgency and are beginning to focus on developing compromise texts for the outcome Ministerial Text.

"As we strive to keep to keep the task in perspective, many of my ministerial colleagues are beginning to see this Conference as neither the launching nor the conclusion of the Doha Development Round. Rather, it is now being seen as an opportunity to take the Doha round a step further towards conclusion," Minister Cort said.

With the conference scheduled to adopt a Ministerial text on Sunday, negotiators continue to work long hours in search of breakthroughs on the various outstanding issues. These include agriculture; specific development issues; services; and non-agricultural market access (NAMA). .

Other outstanding issues include trade and environment, electronic commerce, geographical indications, the WTO intellectual property ("TRIPS") agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity, "non-violation complaints" in intellectual property, and the challenge by Honduras of the European Union 's banana regime for ACP countries, which include the banana-producing countries of the OECS.

Minister Cort has also been engaged in bilateral consultations with his ministerial colleagues. He has had bilateral discussions with the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, the Honourable Kamal Nath, on matters of mutual interest to Antigua and Barbuda and India.