Luanda - The 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a forum attended by Angola, Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, renewed the commitment to implement a full, functional and accessible dispute resolution system for all members by 2024.
The meeting, which was attended by the Angolan Minister of Industry and Trade, Rui Minguéns, agreed to improve the use of the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) provisions for developing and least developed countries (LDCs).
The members, who set out an agenda of forward-looking reforms for the WTO, agreed to continue negotiations in all the areas where convergence was difficult in MC13.
Members adopted the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, in which they pledged to preserve and strengthen the capacity of the multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core, to respond to current trade challenges.
The Abu Dhabi Declaration emphasises the centrality of the development dimension in the work of the WTO and also recognises the role that the multilateral trading system can play in contributing to the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The members recognised the contribution of women's economic empowerment and their participation in trade to economic growth and sustainable development.
On the other hand, they recognised the role and importance of services for the global economy, as they generate more than two-thirds of the world's economic output and are responsible for more than half of all jobs.
They encouraged the relevant WTO bodies to continue their work to review and capitalise on all the lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic and to build effective solutions in case of future pandemics in an expeditious manner.
The ministers adopted a Ministerial Declaration responding to a 23-year mandate to review the special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions for developing and least developed countries (LDCs), with a view to making them more precise, effective and operational.
Ministers at the conference, formally approved the terms of accession to the WTO of the Comoros and East Timor, the first new members in almost eight years.
They agreed on concrete measures to ease the way out of the category of least developed countries.
In relation to e-commerce, they instructed the General Council to carry out periodic reviews of the e-Commerce Work Programme, in order to present recommendations for action to the Ministerial Conference.
The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the World Trade Organisation, overseeing trade rules between nations, including trade in goods, services and intellectual property.
The Ministerial Conference brought together around 4,000 ministers, senior trade officials and other delegates from the WTO's 164 members, as well as representatives from civil society, business and the global media
Initially scheduled for 26-29 February, the conference was extended in a final push to achieve results on the various issues that were on the table. DC/DAN/DOJ
