Statement by HE Dr Yen-Shiang Shih Minister of Economic Affairs

It gives me great pleasure to participate on behalf of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in this Seventh Ministerial Conference of the WTO. I would like to thank both the Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, and the Chairman of the General Council, Ambassador Mario Matus, for their efforts in arranging the Ministerial Conference at this decisive moment. I hope that, collectively, we can seize this opportunity to reach consensus on our path forward and demonstrate the real value of the multilateral trading system to our constituents at home.
It has been more than one year now since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis. We are heartened to see that through efforts Members have made to tackle the most severe financial plight we have confronted since the 1930s, the world economy is beginning to recover and trade is returning to normal. Even though concerns about protectionism have been re-awakened, thankfully, the WTO's monitoring and transparency mechanisms, as well as the Members' hard work in other fora such as APEC and the G-20, have helped to prevent its spread to a large degree.