A high level official delegation representing Pakistan led by Mr. Bilal Azhar Kayani, the Minister of State for Finance and Railways, arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon today to participate in the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization WTO). Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the WTO Mr. Ali Sarfraz is also part of the delegation along with his team from Pakistan's WTO Mission in Geneva. The MC is taking place in a highly volatile time when the WTO is facing, what many experts term as, 'Existential Crisis' due to increasing unilateralism, rising number of tariff and non-tariff barriers by various countries in the world and increasing preference for national priorities over rule based international order.
Mr. Bilal Azhar Kayani has been selected as Minister-Facilitator for WTO's Committee on Agriculture - Special Session (CoA-SS), which has been tasked to chart the way forward with regard to negotiations on agriculture related issues. Talks on agriculture trade have remained stalled for many years now due to inflexible positions taken by different countries due to their internal policy considerations regarding farmers' subsistence and food insecurity. During the Ministerial Conference, Mr. Kayani will be meeting high level political and official leadership of the key member states to develop convergence on the Chair's text prepared by Ambassador Ali Sarfraz on the basis of recommendations of the members of the WTO.
Pakistan remains firmly committed to the development dimension of the WTO and the need to preserve a level playing field for all Members, particularly developing and least-developed countries. In the broader WTO reform discussions at MC14, Mr. Kayani will underscore the importance of foundational issues, including the principles of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment, National Treatment, and the preservation of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) for developing countries. Pakistan believes that any reform process must strengthen the multilateral trading system in a manner that supports inclusive development, food security, and the legitimate policy space of developing nations rather than diluting these core principles.
