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A team from Pakistan, headed by Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani, has been actively involved in multiple discussions held in Yaounde, Cameroon, throughout the current 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The minister has advocated for Pakistan’s stance in multilateral discussions during WTO reform breakout sessions focusing on fundamental issues, decision-making processes, development, and a fair competitive environment. He highlighted the importance of reinforcing a rule-based trade system that combines inclusivity and adaptability to address emerging challenges through building trust and promoting transparency. The minister also spoke during the plenary session of the Reform to express Pakistan’s position on the facilitator’s report aimed at safeguarding Pakistan’s crucial trade interests. As the Minister-Facilitator for Agriculture at the Ministerial Conference, he worked to help WTO members achieve a consensus on agriculture-related matters. To this end, he held extensive bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference with ministers from the United Kingdom (Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Business and Trade), Turkiye (Dr Ömer Bolat, Minister of Trade), Japan (Yukinoro Nemoto, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries), and the Cotton-4 members, as well as senior officials from the US, Brazil, China, EU, Cameroon, Mozambique, Canada, and Argentina. He stressed the importance of collaboration to send a positive message to farmers and growers across member states who rely on the WTO for predictability and fairness in agricultural trade, production, and food and livelihood security. He expressed gratitude to his counterparts and officials for not only engaging constructively and cooperatively to develop convergences on the draft but also for assisting in bringing other members on board with the declaration. Ministers and senior officials from member countries acknowledged and praised the efforts of Minister-Facilitator Bilal Azhar Kayani and Pakistan’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the WTO, Ali Sarfraz Hussain, for their contributions in achieving consensus. The Pakistan delegation will continue its participation on Sunday, 29th March.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.Syndigate.info).