REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan has asked all parties involved to refrain from being hasty in underestimating the results of the ninth World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Bali, urging them to allow the outcome to energize the Indonesian state and nation in the due course of time.
"Because of the support and hard work of all stake holders involved in the WTO conference, we have managed to reach an agreement that has never been achieved during the past 18 years," the Minister stated on Thursday.
He noted that following an 18-year long deadlock, Indonesia had gathered the courage to host the conference in Bali this year to encourage poor and developing countries to find the right formula that would benefit all countries.
Gita pointed out that WTO meetings held so far had been marked by failure and even violence because the developed countries had failed to accommodate the interests of the poor and developing nations.
"A single undertaking is the principle of WTO. Thus, if a country does not agree, then it can be vetoed, but it is not an easy thing to strike an agreement among 160 member countries," the Minister pointed out.
He added that the long negotiations during the ninth WTO ministerial conference, which ended on Dec. 6, had yielded the Bali Package, which includes agreements related to Trade Facilitation, Agriculture and significant provisions for Least Developed Countries.