Keynote Adress at The Opening Ceremony of The Second G-33 Ministrial Meeting

TRANSCRIPT
KEYNOTE ADRESS BY
H.E. DR. H. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
AT THE OPENING CEREMONY
OF THE SECOND G-33 MINISTERIAL MEETING
GRAN MELIA HOTEL, JAKARTA
20 MARCH 2007



Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Assalaamu‘alaikum warrahmatullahi wabarrakatuh,

Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,

I am pleased to welcome you all to Jakarta, Indonesia. Considering the high stakes in your meeting, I hope that we will do our best to ensure that its outcome will contribute to the advancement of the negotiations in the WTO.

I deeply appreciate your coming here to attend the Second G-33 Ministerial Meeting held in Jakarta. For it is crucial that this Group should be effective in its advocacy of the development objectives of developing countries in a rules-based multilateral trading system.

This meeting started out as a coordinating meeting for the G-33. But, as a result of great interest and I believe commitment from all of you to remain engaged, we now have representatives from all the other key developing groupings: the G-20, the African Group, the Least Developed Countries and the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Countries. This shows beyond doubt the solidarity, commitment, and unity of developing countries in ensuring that development remains central to this round of negotiations.

Developing countries stand ready to discuss and dialogue, and therefore the outreach with others present at this meeting, such as with G-10 represented by Japan and the EU trade commissioner, is also an important part of this meeting. I am pleased that the Director General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy, will also be attending this meeting.

This shows that all of us from developing and developed countries are here to have a constructive discussion on what I believe is the main objective of the DDA. That is: we should all work hard to ensure that the results of the negotiations will promote development and alleviate poverty in the developing world. After all, this is what we all agreed on in Doha: to place development at the heart of the multilateral trading system.

We reached that agreement because while globalization and trade liberalization in the past decade have tremendously improved the living standards of millions of people all over the world, a much greater number of people continue to languish in absolute poverty.

By adopting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the year 2000 we committed ourselves to halving the number of people living below poverty lines by 2015.

Yet, after seven years we still have a long way to go. We have come to realize that trade is a means to development, but only if we manage the process of opening up well, including any negative effects.

And we have come to realize that the WTO can contribute immensely to the attainment of this goal and the other MDGs—if we remain faithful to the development mandate of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).

After all, Goal 8 of the MDG calls for an open, rule-based, predictable, and non-discriminatory financial and trading system.

This is understood to mean a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction, nationally and internationally. Therefore, the WTO and DDA must work to open up markets. But at the same time it must also address the special needs and concerns of the developing countries.

Through this two-pronged approach, we can arrive at a balanced outcome of the DDA. That is the only way we can ensure that developing countries will benefit as much as their developed partners from the multilateral trading system.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
What is at stake?
The DDA offers an opportunity to rectify imbalances in the world agricultural trade, which threaten the livelihood of hundreds of millions of poor farmers in the rural areas of the developing world.

Not only do the developed countries raise barriers to market access for the farm products of the developing world, they also spend billions of dollars in subsidies. The result is a distortion of the trade in agricultural products that is strangling the most vulnerable segment of populations in the developing world.

Indeed, it is the height of irony that one of every five human beings on this planet lives on less than one dollar a day, while a head of cattle in some developed country gets more than double that amount in subsidy.
Another stark fact, only 2-5% of developed countries’ labor force is employed compared with up to 80% in developing countries.

We know this too well in Indonesia. Agriculture continues to be central to our development strategy, because it remains the core for rural household incomes, provides livelihood of 25 million households, and determines the survival of fifty percent of Indonesian poor.

Yet the international agricultural trade regime, which is characterized by high subsidies and high tariffs by developed countries, is the major external constraint to our efforts to develop our agricultural sector. It severely limits our capacity to compete in our domestic markets let alone export our agricultural products.

This is not to blame all our problems on external factors. We have internal problems like inefficiencies in the production and distribution of farm produce. However, we need time to ensure that we have the capacity to achieve increased efficiency.

Millions of our people live in chronically food-insecure regions, as they frequently suffer natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. A rising rural population and low economic growth some years ago have compounded these problems, putting considerable pressure on arable land.

We intend to reverse this trend. My administration’s basic strategy is to reinvigorate the agricultural sector to reduce unemployment, alleviate poverty and rectify imbalances in the country’s development.

We are also bringing in more resources to the rural areas through a programme of decentralization. Launched in 1999 as part of our democratic reform, this programme gives local governments a substantial share of revenues and the power to decide their own priorities.

Still, we need an international environment that is conducive to the success of our programmes. The imbalances in the global trade regime, particularly in agricultural commodities, must be rectified. This is to the interest of all developing countries and, in the long run, all humankind.

The Group must therefore step up its drive for the reduction of domestic subsidies and tariff barriers that distort global agricultural trade.

Let us continue to encourage the developed countries to muster the political will to reform their policies on agricultural trade and move the WTO negotiations forward to a balanced outcome.

On the other hand, the Group must also continue to vigorously address the issues of food security, livelihood security and rural development within the framework of the WTO.

It is our right and our responsibility to protect our farmers and our rural populations from falling victim to an unjust trade regime.

It is in Indonesia’s interest, as well as in the interest of the majority of developing countries whose population is still predominantly in the agricultural sector. That is precisely why the G-33 was established: to carry out that task.

I hope that in your discussions, you will have a constructive approach to ensure that the special products and the special safeguard mechanisms will adequately safeguard to livelihood of our subsistence farmers, the food security of our population and ensure progress in rural development.

All of us, including Indonesia, face different circumstances and conditions, and thus there must be sufficient flexibility to incorporate different sensitivities while at the same time ensuring that these special products are well defined.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us not forget the important window of opportunity that we are in right now and that will remain open for the crucial next few months.

Indonesia is committed to alleviation of poverty and development for Indonesia as well as for the developing world. Therefore, we are committed to the completion of the DDA negotiations. This has been made clear from my own statements as well as in the recent statements at the ASEAN Summit and prior to that at the APEC Summit.

Other leaders have also shown their commitment. At the Davos WEF, leaders from Europe such as PM Tony Blair and Chancellor Merkel, as well as from developing countries such as President Lula from Brazil and President Mbeki of South Africa, also voiced their commitments.

At the end of January, President Bush urged Congress to renew the fast track authority to negotiate trade agreements and emphasized the commitment of the US to have a successful Doha Round and the will to work hard to complete negotiations. In my recent my conversation with President Bush, I also emphasized the need for a constructive approach towards a win-win solution for all, and as we in the Group of 33 try to formulate a realistic common position, I also stressed the need for developed countries to show leadership to move the negotiations forward.

The strong political will now has to be shored up with actions.
We all also know that who starts to open the window first – that is the window that will bring us all back fully engaged to the negotiating table – is crucial to ensure that we make most use of this window of opportunity.

Developing countries are willing to negotiate a deal that is clearly going to answer their development concerns.

We are and have been preparing our positions, including in the work undertaken by the G-33 as well as G-20, African Group, Least Developed Countries and Africa Caribbean Pacific Groupings, most of who are represented at this meeting.

We are ready to negotiate. However, it should not be us – the developing countries – who come to the negotiating table first.

Achieving MDGs calls for a global compact or partnership between developed and developing countries. I believe that this means developed countries should show leadership in coming to the negotiating table first.

Let’s not turn the tables around. When there is progress made in the offers on trade distorting domestic support and high tariffs for products of export interest for developing countries, we, the developing countries would be in a position to come to the negotiating table also.

Once negotiations are complete, we must not forget that for many developing countries to benefit from the greater market access, it must be accompanied by targeted capacity building or Aid for Trade to raise export competitiveness.

This will require targeted assistance through investment in critical infrastructure as well as other programs of technical assistance.

Finally, I believe we all came here to Jakarta in good faith to conduct a meaningful dialogue and outreach.

There are members of G-33 and other developed and developing country groups, but we all should remain focused on maximizing this window of opportunity.

At stake in your deliberations is the fate of the Doha Development Round and, therefore, in a very real sense, the future of the developing world.

At stake is the future of hundreds of millions of rural poor, many of whom are dying today because they are too poor to live. Indeed, at stake is the quality of life of our future generations. Let us not fail them.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
By saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I now officially open this G-33 Ministerial Meeting.

Thank you.
Wassalaamu‘alaikum warrahmatullahi wabarrakatuh


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Presidential Household