Good morning everyone.

Welcome to the WTO, and to the 34th Geneva Week. As ever, it is great to have you here.

I think that this initiative plays a very important role. It helps to update you on the state-of-play at the WTO, and allows you to engage more closely with the organization.

I hope you will make the most out of this week – and that it will help you and your delegations to prepare for our 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, in December this year.

In fact, at the last General Council, the Chairman of the MC11 taskforce DDG Shark made an appeal for donations to a special trust fund which facilitates the participation of least-developed countries in the Ministerial Conference.  I will be pushing members to donate to that fund.

I know that you have a packed agenda ahead of you this week. So let me thank all involved in putting the programme together, in particular the Development Division.

I would like to take this opportunity today to brief you on what has happened at the WTO since we last met, in December last year, and on the preparations for MC11. And there is a lot to update you on.

We started the year with two major achievements.

In January, we saw the entry into force of the amendment to the TRIPS Agreement, which helps developing countries access generic medicines at more affordable prices.

And in February, the Trade Facilitation Agreement entered into force. This is the WTO's first multilateral agreement – and I believe you are all quite familiar with its benefits.

These two measures came into force because we received ratifications from more than two thirds of the WTO membership. This is important in itself. It shows members' commitment to the multilateral trading system – to agreeing reforms and seeing them through to implementation.

On both of these issues, I encourage you to talk to your governments if they haven't yet ratified these agreements, and urge them to take these steps. This is very important so you can also reap their benefits, including the technical assistance foreseen by the TFA.

On a personal note, I would also like to thank you and your capitals for your support in reappointing me for a second term as WTO Director-General at the end of February.

I believe that the WTO is much stronger today than it was just a few years ago. And I think we have to continue charting the way forward, especially in the global economic environment we see today.

We are faced with a prolonged period of moderate growth.

Our latest data, published just a couple of weeks ago, show that in 2016 world trade grew at 1.3%. This was the slowest pace since the financial crisis.  

And despite signs that the figures may pick up this year, it seems quite likely that 2017 will be the sixth consecutive year with trade growth below 3%. This has never been seen in the 70 year history of the multilateral trading system.

This situation deserves our attention.

Trade has long proven to be an engine for growth, jobs and development. In recent decades it has helped to lift a billion people out of poverty – and it is a key element of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

So, strengthening the multilateral trading system and the WTO is essential here.

This means continuing to deliver new reforms to the trading system, which can help more people participate, and help to spread the benefits of trade more widely.

The WTO is getting into the habit of delivering important outcomes. In the span of the last 3 years, members have finalised:

• The Trade Facilitation Agreement,
• The deal to abolish agricultural export subsidies
• And a range of important decisions to help developing countries and LDCs integrate into the trading system.

The lion's share of the benefits from these achievements will go to developing countries and LDCs.

Now WTO members are discussing how we can continue to make progress.

Conversations have been advancing in different areas.  Many are focused on the longstanding issues that are part of the Doha Round.

Debates are ongoing, for example, in agriculture, where there is a strong focus on domestic support and on issues related to food security, such as public stockholding in developing countries. Members are also looking into an agreement to limit subsidies which lead to overfishing.

And there is growing interest in discussing several other issues at the WTO – such as e-commerce, or how to help small and medium sized enterprises to trade.

In addition, groups of Members have organized seminars or informal dialogues to further discussions, including on e-commerce and SMEs. And more are being prepared. I welcome the energy that these informal sessions are injecting into our work.

Importantly, there is a genuine openness in the approach undertaken by the proponents. All Members have been invited and encouraged to actively participate. 

My hope therefore is that we can sustain this prevailing momentum and positive engagement.

Of course this should include steps on development and in support of LDCs – as well as steps in those areas where action is mandated at the Buenos Aires Conference, such as public stockholding.

However, on all of the issues I've mentioned, I think we still have a long way to go.

Clearly time is short. In the coming weeks I hope to see our preparations for Buenos Aires advancing with a much greater sense of clarity and purpose. Continued political engagement will be essential.

But of course, the work will not end there. We must see what is doable by MC11, and set the stage for other deliveries in the future.

A key moment to help focus our debates will be the upcoming 6th Global Review of Aid for Trade, in July this year.

I'm sure that you will be hearing more about the Global Review this week, but I would just like to stress how important this is.

Aid for Trade plays a pivotal role in building trade capacity.

The latest data we have on Aid for Trade flows show that overall disbursements reached 39.8 billion dollars in 2015. That's the highest figure to date for a single year. It is important that we maintain this momentum and maximize the impact of this support.

This is what the Global Review will be looking at – as well as how Aid for Trade can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, notably the targets on poverty eradication and women's economic empowerment.

In this, and in every area of our work, your views and ideas are vital.

This is your organization. We want to do everything we can to help you make the most of it. 

It has been great to see how former non-residents that have opened missions in Geneva are making a mark in the work of the WTO.

We saw this with Fiji who coordinated the work of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and have been very active in the negotiations on fisheries subsidies.

We are also seeing it now with Guyana who is the current ACP coordinator and has been able to hit the ground running and coordinate proposals on behalf of this very large group.

In both of these cases Geneva Week meant that those members were ready to step-up their engagement. 

So use this opportunity to soak in all of the information about the work that is being done from all available sources – from other members, from the Secretariat, from the Chairs. Then use this information to formulate your views and make them known to all. 

In doing so, you will have my full support – and that of the Secretariat.

So thank you for listening.