DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
            (Joint Ministerial Committee
                       of the
   Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund
                       on the
Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries)

    NINETY-SEVENTH MEETING
  WASHINGTON, D.C. – APRIL 21, 2018


                                                      DC/S/2018-0019
                                                      April 21, 2018




                  Statement by

              Mr. Roberto Azevȇdo
               Director-General

           World Trade Organization
                                               Statement by

                                          Mr. Roberto Azevȇdo
                                         Deputy Director-General

                                        World Trade Organization

                              97th Meeting of the Development Committee

                                              April 21, 2018
                                             Washington, D.C.



Global trade experienced a marked recovery in 2017, and this strong performance is expected to continue
in 2018 and 2019. This is the result of regional economic cycles re-synchronizing and import demand
picking up in all regions of the world. However, there are numerous risks to this positive outlook, in
particular the further escalation of tensions between major trading partners.

We should seek to resolve these tensions so that they do not imperil much-needed growth and development
around the world. The WTO, which serves as a forum for its members to hold each other to account under
common rules agreed by all, will play its proper role in this process. Indeed, it can be argued that without
the WTO, a wave of protectionist measures would have been stirred up by the 2008 financial crisis,
significantly worsening its economic effects.

The process of opening up to trade and adopting global rules is important in reducing poverty and boosting
development. Trade was central in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal on reducing
extreme poverty and it will be important in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. WTO rules help
to create a predictable environment that is conducive to growth and development. This is particularly visible
in the countries that have acceded to WTO, which tend to experience a significant uplift in their GDP
growth after joining the organization. In addition, trade disputes between WTO members are settled on the
basis of the rule of law, in an open and transparent manner. This has helped to create a stable and inclusive
global trading system.

We should therefore seek to continue strengthening the global trading system – and this means ensuring
that it can adapt to meet members' needs. A number of important reforms have been delivered in recent
years. Two successful WTO Ministerial Conferences (Bali in 2013 and Nairobi in 2015) yielded important
benefits for developing countries such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the elimination of export
subsidies in agriculture. Of course, further progress can be made to ensure that the global trading system is
even more inclusive and that the benefits of trade reach further and wider. This means supporting
developing and least-developed countries to engage and benefit from the trading system. Any weakening
of the multilateral trading system would certainly have an effect on developing countries' development and
economic potential.

At our most recent Ministerial Conference, held in Buenos Aires in December 2017, members committed
to continuing negotiations in all areas and committed to securing a deal on fisheries subsidies which delivers
on Sustainable Development Goal 14.6 by the end of 2019. Also in Buenos Aires groups of members,
encompassing participants from developed, developing and least-developed countries, announced new
initiatives to advance talks at the WTO on the issues of electronic commerce, investment facilitation, micro,
small and medium size enterprises and women's economic empowerment. This work now continues in
Geneva.

We are also working to tackle other pressing issues, including gaps in the provision of trade finance for
developing countries – and in particular for small enterprises. The WTO is working with the World Bank,
IFC and other partners to close these gaps. This collaboration is very positive, and it continues across a
range of areas. I also welcome the steps that World Bank governors and senior management have taken to
support the implementation of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement through the Trade Facilitation
Support Program.

I urge ministers to continue to give a high priority to the better integration of developing countries into the
multilateral trading system. By working together, the World Bank and the WTO can continue to support
the shared goals of raising living standards and ensuring a brighter future for the world's poor.




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