 Good afternoon and welcome to this press conference from the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum here in Davos Thank you for joining us here in the room. Thank you for watching on our live stream and a warm welcome to our panelists here today Those of you familiar with Davos know that this is almost like a traditional press conference We hold on the last day of Davos because it coincides with the World Trade Organization's ministerial meeting And as such it is my pleasure to introduce our panelists to you today to my immediate left We're joined by Johan Schneider-Aman the federal counselor of economic affairs Education and research of Switzerland who is also the host for the ministerial meeting here and together with him To his immediate left we're joined by Roberto Acevedo who's the director general of the World Trade Organization and Last but definitely not least here today on our panel We are joined by Susana Malcora. She's the minister of foreign affairs and worship of Argentina Welcome and minister without further ado over to you the floor is yours. Thank you so much Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this press conference at the end of a busy week For most of us here in Davos once again Switzerland invited to a Informal meeting of WTO ministers and I had the honor of chairing this meeting With 29 WTO members attending the meeting at ministerial level We had an exceptionally high and I would also say the presentative participation I'm here as it was just mentioned with the director general Roberto Acevedo as well as this minister Malcora of Argentina host of the next WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December of this year Our meeting focused on two topics the general trade Environment and what we can do to make the December conference in Argentina a success Let me start by sharing with you my personal conclusions from the ministerial meeting as We will publish them this afternoon First ministers highlighted the key role of the rule-based Multilateral trading system in ensuring a stable and predictable framework for world trade They stressed the importance of safeguarding the integrity and the benefits of the system and Of further strengthening the WTO Second recalling the importance of trade as an engine for development and growth Ministers stressed the priority of working towards further integration into world trade of Developing countries and in particular of least developed members Third ministers noted that Protectionism was not the right answer to anti-trade sentiments and to concerns about technological change Instead trade should be made more inclusive and its benefits spread more widely Force ministers expressed their appreciation for the informal WTO ministerial meeting organized by Norway on the 21st 22nd October of last year in Oslo and the chairs summary from those discussions Fifth ministers also expressed their gratefulness to Argentina for hosting the 11th WTO ministerial conference in December this year in Buenos Aires Six Recalling the important outcomes achieved at the 9th and 10th W ministerial conference in Bali and Nairobi Ministers welcomed the imminent entry into force of the multilateral trade Facilitation agreement a major result of MC9 in Bali and reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of all outcomes Seventh ministers underlined the need to build on the successes of the last two ministerial conferences and To deliver further incremental yet substantive results at MC ministerial Conference 11 in Buenos Aires and beyond With development at its center to this end they expressed their determination to pursue their engagement and political support in the lead up to MC ministerial conference 11 eight minister Ministers undertook to mandate their Officials to intensify the efforts in the different areas through a proposal driven inclusive Transparent and timely process and last but not least Further to the Oslo summary issues most referred to By ministers for further work in the lead up to the ministerial conference 11 comprised Elements of domestic support in agriculture including cotton a permanent solution for public stock holdings for food security purposes Other mandated tasks from Nairobi fisheries subsidies In line with sustainable development goal 14.6 domestic regulations and trade facilitation in services Special and differential treatment for developing countries and these developed countries issues and Amongst so-called new issues E-commerce was confirmed to be of particular interest to many members as well as small and medium-sized companies Topics further referred to notably included non-tariff barriers to trade investment facilitation and Issues relating to market access rules and export restrictions We went through a very intensive and very constructive Ministerial meeting I think we did Reasonably well and properly prepare the Ministerial meeting as of December of this year in Buenos Aires and in the meantime Naturally we have to do a lot of work a lot of work and Roberto as the widow is the one who leads this Projects and activities and Bringing people together and making sure that we will achieve a success in Buenos Aires I want to take the opportunity to thank him for his enormous engagement in our common Interests about multilateral Multilateral about the multilateral activities of WTO and To Susanna One sentence. We are so happy to get the chance to meet again in your wonderful Buenos Aires Please direct the general over to you Thank you. Thank you all very very much. Good morning. Good afternoon Let me start by by thanking federal councillor Schneider Aman and the Swiss authorities for hosting us today always impeccable 2017 is an important year for the WTO as we look ahead to the ministerial conference in December in Buenos Aires In that sense, it is great to be joined today by Minister Susana Mocura Clearly a trade is very high on the agenda Especially here in Davos Trade of course has boosted growth has created jobs have have helped to lift Billion a billion people out of poverty But of course we need to do more to share the benefits of trade because there is a still a sense out there of People who have been left out now. I recognize fully the concerns about globalization And the need to respond to those concerns. Of course the net Positive effect of trade means nothing to someone who has lots lost his job So we need better domestic Policies to support people and get them back to work At the same time we must also recognize That actually the major Driver of change is technology is innovation And attacking trade won't help this Putting up trade barriers won't help this I've heard a lot of talk here in Davos about protectionism that trade wars And that in fact would destroy jobs that will not create jobs I am urging everyone to show caution to show leadership. We must Definitely avoid Talking ourselves into a crisis Global trade rules Provide the tools for governments to tackle unfair trade practices and this is the big difference that we have between what Happened after the 2008 crisis and what happened in the 1930s when we didn't have Instruments of a global multilateral nature like we do today of the trade facilitation that the WTO Is starting the year in a very positive note The trade facilitation agreement is on the verge of entering to force Just today I received a Nigeria's ratification of that agreement. So that takes us to 107 as you know We need 110 ratifications to put the agreement into force. So we need just three more To for the agreement to enter into force. We expect next week to receive another one So that will bring us just to two more ratifications to get the trade facilitation agreement In force in addition to this we expect also the trips amendment on access to medicines to come into force next week So that's another very big news and this shows that members are delivering on their commitments And it means that we'll be able to start delivering on the benefits of those instruments those agreements now Members want to build on the negotiating successes that we had Over the recent years. They want to see concrete results also in Buenos Aires At the conference at the 11th ministerial conference of the WTO a wide range of areas are being discussed and I will not repeat them because the minister Schneider-Aman has already mentioned all of them. I Think that at this point Engagement is very high Interestingly both from WTO members and from the private sector and that is something that is That demonstrates how much interest there is at this point in time on what we are doing now In Geneva now we've been we've seen that again here in in Davos, but if we are going to advance we need to Redouble the efforts. I will continue to facilitate that Discussions among members to move things forward. Of course, there is a lot of uncertainty ahead of us But my message to them Don't let that paralyze us Instead we need to work even harder Ministers agreed today to increase their engagement at that level ministerial level throughout 2017 and this will be essential To strengthening and improving the trading system. That's what I had So thank you all very much and then we'll be responding to questions at a later point Thank you director general minister Malacora last year. We had the pleasure to to welcome your president here On this podium and also Argentina back to the global stage if you may say and it looks like you haven't wasted any time Hosting the next WTO meeting. Please share with us. What were your impressions of the meeting? Meetings this week. Thank you very much and let me start by by thanking the Swiss government and in particular the minister of economic affairs Education and research And it's great to be here. It's great to be so well hosted. So thanks again And you rightly pointed out we were here last year with president Macri leading the delegation He was if a clear indication only a few weeks after Taking office that we were here to Connect with the world again to come back and project Argentina integrate Argentina and and to be able to Take advantage of the opportunity of an integrated world in an intelligent manner That is something that I want to emphasize part of that took us to a volunteer and a Colleagues felt that that was a good idea To host the ministerial health conference in Buenos Aires this year and by the way We also would have the presidency of the G20 next year so this is sort of a set of milestones to a re-emphasize the commitment that Argentina has and the government of Argentina has tours in multilateral settings tours a Dialogue and platforms that provide the opportunity to come together and hopefully share Perspectives the meeting today and I will say the bilateral meetings that we have throughout the week We're very positive We got an incredible support from many Countries from many governments Towards our initiative and I think we have an opportunity and I want to emphasize this At a moment where things seem very very gray Where there are concerns raised? Where there are even potential threats raised? I think there are opportunities there and the opportunity is to strengthen even more the WTO as an organization who is which is owned by us the governments and To really work hard to agree to a common agenda that will take us forward Many things have already been said on what are the issues at hand? What is the the process that we're going to start but let me emphasize something? All of these is in sync with what we had agreed only 16 17 month ago when we adopted we all member states adopted the 2030 agenda the sustainable development goals everything is interconnected and there we discussed that people should be at the center We discussed that nobody should be left behind We discussed that inequality was one of the drivers of problems in the world We discussed that Whatever we do has to be done in a with a spirit of fostering sustainable development This is the spirit that now we have to bring into trade is totally associated Roberto clearly indicated how much trade has been an engine of growth we all also need to add a fair and sustainable Adjectives to the growth and we have to work on that so I'm convinced that we have a lot of work before us But I'm also convinced that we have the chances of a successful meeting in in Buenos Aires We are going to meet again at the ministerial level in June in the infringes of the OECD meeting we plan to do again another meeting in September So that we don't get to Buenos Aires with too many issues is still open But we front-load the discussions at the political level to ensure that this alignment between What our peoples are asking us to do which is deliver for them more jobs for them Align, whatever we do with a sustainable develop development and make sure that trade is a key tool in what we do that all of these comes together and then we are able to come with a final agreement in Buenos Aires That will allow us to celebrate with good beef and good Malbec. Thank you Thank you very much, and we will open the floor for questions now President-elect Trump could Unfortunately not join us on the panel for scheduling conflicts So if you could focus your questions on the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization That would surely be much appreciated by the panelists here. We have a microphone Please the two gentlemen here that start in the first row if you could state your name and organization for the sake of our online audience Please Matthew Allen from Swiss info. Sorry to disappoint you, but the t-word has to come up. Sorry about it Because it's what everyone wants to know and we're gonna have a new US president in a few hours He's talked about getting out of t-tip TPP. He's talked about worries about trade with China Are you not worried that the US is now going to start moving in the opposite direction of the WTO? I can go to any of the panelists. Thank you very much. Let's take the second question from the gentleman behind Thank you. Don't see from ties in media China two questions for the director general first About the China's market economy status. I wonder after December and now between December and now Did you? discuss this issue with any member states or did you receive a Plans from any other side and the second question is about you talked about strengthening the WTO I was wondering do you have a plan or plans to you know enhance? Compliance by member states because sometimes your dispute body Decides these these actions are against the WTO rules and the country promises to change But finally in the end they they doesn't or they didn't do that Was how to make your you know your rulings really enforceable enforceable or you know What kind of actions your content? Thank you very much. So do we have any volunteers on the Trump question? Director general do you want to Comment on that Yes Am I worried that the WTO that the United States may move in the wrong direction That's a question right in the WTO and in other areas. I'm worried 24 hours 24 hours a day as Director general of the WTO Because we have challenges all the time, but happily we also have opportunities the whole time. I think that Clearly From what I have heard I have not had a direct contact with it with the new administration Yet but from what I have heard they have concerns about the trade Situation in many areas of the world and that's that's fair everybody does I think it's about Dialogue or have to sit down listen to what those concerns are and see whether there are Mechanisms whether there are tools particularly within the structure of the WTO rules and disciplines that can address Those concerns, but first we have to wait and talk to to to the United States and to the new administration Listen to their concerns see what we can do about them And and take it from there But it's difficult to speculate what what is that's going to happen? What kind of trade policy is going to shape up at this point in time? I don't have any information in that regard The question about the market economy status. No, I did not talk to anybody in the WTO recently about that It is also my understanding that there is already a dispute that has been initiated by China and Given that the dispute has been initiated precisely about the issue of the protocol of accession of China It is my policy never to comment on a dispute that is ongoing So I will not comment on that and I will not talk to anyone about that the dispute follows its course on the Compliance of WTO Findings of the dispute settlement body findings and recommendations What we do have is actually a pretty good record of compliance our Calculation show that more than 90% of the disputes in the WTO have been complied with There are some very sensitive disputes in some areas and it takes longer And as you know, the process has several steps. So after even after the The panel and the appellate body have found that a member is not in compliance with the WTO disciplines That member is given time To make the changes in their legislations regulations that are necessary to bring Those measures into compliance After that if the complaining party is not satisfied they complain again, and then you have another set of Examinations there was another panel another appellate body review if it is appealed After that second stage If the party is still not in compliance is found not to be in compliance Then the complaining party is granted the right to impose measures that would be what we call retaliation sanctions that would go To offset the effects of what has been done or to encourage the other side to to comply so there is a Lengthy process, but it's a very very quick by international court standards in fact the WTO Dispute settlement process is the fastest international system that exists today Maybe it could be even faster, but given the sensitivity and the political Sensibility of all sensitivity of all these issues. I think we're doing a very good job Thank you. So let's get the microphone to the lady in orange Alternate pass from the Swiss news agency SDA a question to mr. Schneider-Aman and mr. Assevedo Can you tell us something about the the idea of an international arbitral court? Did you discuss that? Which is a suggestion from the EU? I'm not sure I understood the question frankly What do you want to know exactly? There was a suggestion from the you to install an international arbitral court on the eye on the investor state Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you're referring to now. I do Well, I had I was invited this morning to a conversation that was promoted by Both European Union and Canada With a number of other WTO ministers who were present here in Davos I think this is this is a new idea. This is innovative The issue as you know as everybody know is not an easy one. It's very contentious and polemic sometimes I think the at the meeting what I heard was that the members were very interested in understanding better what was being said some Expressed interest and said that they would like to understand a little bit more. We need to discuss more others expressed concerns Because of whatever their perspectives were And my understanding is that and then and then I had to leave after that point I had to leave I had a meeting with another minister and I had to leave and I don't know what the conclusion was but I would urge you to talk then to the EU and and the Canadian delegations to to to get the conclusion I would surmise I would imagine that the conclusion was thank you very much. These are these are very useful comments and input And we'll continue this conversation that that's my understanding Roberto Alcivedo spoke about this program the whole Morning and he attended our meeting a little bit later and in our meeting we did not elaborate about this topic So we have a question from the gentleman all the way on the other side. Yes Thank you. So my name is David a page is with Television Italian speaking Swiss television a question for mr. Asevedo basically is the same You say that that there is some opportunities Opportunity given by the new American administration. What are this opportunity for the free trading in the world? Well, whenever you have Challenges you also have opportunities and I think that When a an important delegations like the US delegation Tells us that in the from their perspective, and I don't know. That's what they tell me We haven't had that contact, but if they come to us and tell us we think the system could be improved That's good news. I won't let's talk. How can we improve the system? We try to do that all the time, but it's it I would be speculating if I could tell you In which areas there could be such a conversation. I don't know I think we have to wait and see what kind of Concerns would come from from that side if if any concerns come. I don't know it's tough to have this conversation because Many of you put the question to me as if we're talking about facts And mostly we're not we're talking about suppositions Speculation so I really don't know but that's what I mean when I say there may be opportunities is if we're going to talk about Changes if we're going to talk about this system. I think there is always an opportunity to improve When when is it when is it an improvement when all members agree if all agree it's an improvement Thank you very much Do we have any more questions? We might have time for one last question. Yes Sorry to chase you across the room again. Here we go. Thank you Thanks very much. This is a it's it's Slightly a Trump question, but hopefully not excuse me But you also in a state your name and it's Marcus Leroux from the Times newspaper in London. Thank you Donald Donald Trump's Appointee as us trade representative has said something along the lines that that the WTO should not undermine national sovereignty and that WTO rulings are not Religious texts and I was wondering if there was a concern that that would create Per example for perhaps smaller member states in terms of compliance and the authority of the organization It's a difficult question because I Hear that from every member It's not only the United States every member says Well, the rules of the WTO cannot Undermine my ability to regulate they cannot undermine my ability to introduce policies But at the same time they have a contract that they all signed with each other The first version of this contract was signed in 1947 and they have been updating this contract ever since And everything that we have every binding rule every binding commitment that we have was signed by all the members Each one of them. So it's a balance about how much the intention is Never to undermine the capacity of governments to introduce regulations to introduce Policies There are limits which are in that contract Now sometimes some members are not happy with the limits that they agreed before but that that would not be a first That happens all the time Thank you very much. Minister Malcora. I think you want to add to that if I may Even from from a national capacity as Roberto indicated there is always a tension between our national view our sovereign view and What we agree in the multilateral setting the question is Are we all collectively ready to continue with our compact? I wouldn't even say contract with our compact that we are better off as a world Coming together in the multilateral setting Recognizing that in doing so you have to concede something How far how much? Those are questions to be asked. No doubt about it But you know the multilateral system was set after World War two The US was at the helm of driving this process when you look at Where we stand and this is not only WTO is a system at large There are many things that could be done differently and could be done better But the question is are we better off with the system or without the system in the world where we see that Tensions are there and arise every single day. So From my point of view Being here this week and seeing President Xi Jinping come out with his statement as he did it's an opportunity It's the first time a Chinese president comes to weff comes to Davos just a clear signal and It's the first time that you see a president of China and presidential Xi Jinping being so clear so articulated about a trade integration so that opens an opportunity of a different type of dialogue among all of us and that's where I refer at the beginning threats also bring opportunities because When a part of our system moves and of course the USA is a big part of our system Everybody recognizes that that in itself changes the dynamics and that in itself provides the chance to see What kind of a new dialogue can evolve from that and What I found today and in these past few days is that people are willing ready to engage in that With the notion that this compact is worth working for and improving Thank you very much Considering that this is a Swiss organization It is time to close this press conference. We're already running a little bit over time Thank you for being here today. Thank you for watching and thank you very much for my panelists today. Thank you. Thank you all