The g7+ Secretariat and the WTO Accession Group co-hosted its 3rd Ministerial Meeting with Ministers of Trade in the margin of 13th WTO Ministerial Conference to call on the WTO to play active role in promoting the nexus between trade and peace to achieve stability and economic well-being. Participants of the meeting included President of Timor-Leste H.E. Jose Ramos Horta, Ministers of commerce, trade and Industry from g7+ member countries including Timor-Leste, Burundi and development partners.
During the meeting, the group welcomed the accessions of Comoros and Timor-Leste to the WTO. Both countries expressed its willingness to share its experiences with other ongoing accessions. This milestone closed the 8-year gap since the WTO welcomed new Members – Afghanistan and Liberia in 2016.
President of Timor-Leste, H.E. Dr. Jose Ramos Horta, in his special remarks stated that there are no clear pathways for g7+ countries in this turbulent world. The ongoing war in Ukraine and the tension in Gaza has undoubtedly affected supply chain for g7+ countries. The President urges member countries to keep fighting for peace in our respective countries.
Deputy DG of WTO, Ambassador Zhang emphasized the need for trade for Peace as a powerful instrument to promote peace and stability in the context of Fragile and conflict affected states and beyond. The meeting was also an opportunity to appreciate Afghanistan leadership for the coordination of the Group in 2018-2020, and to Liberia and Timor-Leste since 2021.
The meeting concluded with the call for the establishment of an action-oriented Work Programme on Trade for Peace for FCS, as proposed in WT/GC/W/830. The Work Programme shall aim at enhancing the understanding on the trade-peace nexus, in particular, how trade could help promote and sustain peace in FCS. The Group commits to engage in consultations with Members in the Committee on Trade and Development, so that a multilateral decision on the Work Programme could be taken by all Members at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Cameroon.
The g7+ WTO Accession Group was established as platform for facilitating the integration of FCS in the WTO including through WTO Accession, leading the development of the WTO trade for peace program for all FCS, facilitation sharing of lessons on the promotion of trade and advocating for inclusive and effective multilateral trade policies. The first meeting of trade ministers of the g7+ WTO Accession group took place 10 December 2017 and on 12 June 2022 during the 11th and the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference 2017. END.