Brussels, 16/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - During their summit in Antalya, Turkey on Monday 16 November, the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful nations reaffirmed their commitment to free trade, to a strong multilateral trade system and to a “successful” 10th ministerial conference of the WTO.
“The WTO is the backbone of the multilateral trading system and should continue to play a central role in promoting economic growth and development. We remain committed to a strong and efficient multilateral trading systems and we reiterate our determination to work together to improve its functioning”, the final statement from the G20 leaders says.
The G20 countries pledged to “work together” for a “successful” 10th ministerial conference of the WTO in Nairobi in mid-December, with “a balanced set of outcomes” - including the Doha development round and “clear guidance” for the WTO's post-Nairobi work.
“We will also need to increase our efforts to implement all the elements of the Bali Package (Ed: the multilateral mini-agreement concluded at the previous ministerial conference in December 2013), including those on agriculture, development, public stock holding as well as the prompt ratification and implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement”, their statement continues.
The G20 countries once again reaffirmed their commitment to dismantling their protectionist barriers and to refraining from putting up new barriers, and they also pledged “to better coordinate (their) efforts” to strengthen trade and investment, “including through adjusted growth strategies”.
They furthermore pledged to continue their efforts to ensure that their bilateral, regional and plurilateral trade agreements “complement one another, are transparent and inclusive, are consistent with and contribute to a stronger multilateral trade system under WTO rules”.
In addition, the G20 countries pledged to continue supporting the aid to trade mechanisms in developing countries needing capacity-building assistance. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)