Ministerial Conference - Seventh Session - Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 - Djibouti - Statement by Mr Ali Ahmed - Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade and Industry

World Trade Organization WT/MIN(09)/ST/141 11 March 2010 (101335) MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November – 2 December 2009 Original: French DJIBOUTI Statement by Mr Ali Ahmed SecretaryGeneral of the Ministry of Trade and Industry On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Djibouti, I would first of all like to extend warmest thanks to the Swiss Confederation for its welcome and to commend the excellent arrangements made for this meeting in cooperation with the WTO Secretariat. This meeting comes at a difficult time for all Members in view of the ongoing global financial and economic crisis. Our countries, aware of how important this conference would be in providing a platform for dialogue and assessing progress and outstanding difficulties, joined forces during the numerous preparatory meetings in the different regional groups so as to make a significant contribution to this Seventh Ministerial Conference. In this