PH Formally Joins the WTO Joint Initiatives at Ministerial Meetings Held in Davos
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon M. Lopez and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva Ambassador Manuel A.J. Teehankee at the Ministerial Meeting of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on Electronic Commerce on 24 January 2020. (WTO-PM photo)
DAVOS 28 January 2020 –– As the Philippines’ contribution to the preparations for the 12th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in June this year, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez announced on 24 January 2020 that the Philippines is formally joining the group of WTO Members that are pursuing structured discussions for the development of a multilateral framework for facilitating foreign direct investment under the Joint Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development, as well as the group of WTO Members that are crafting new rules on the trade-related aspects of electronic commerce under the Joint Statement Initiative on Electronic Commerce.
The Philippines was an original signatory of the Joint Statement on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that gave rise to the Informal Working Group of MSMEs, as well as an original signatory of the Buenos Aires Declaration on Women and Trade, which were both issued at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 2017.
While actively joining the aforementioned Joint Initiatives where a vast majority of interested WTO members participate, the Philippines continues to be a staunch advocate of the Doha Development Agenda, particularly its existing negotiating mandate in agriculture, and this position was reiterated by Secretary Lopez at the Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns Group held in Davos on 23 January 2020. END
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