The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela participated in the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which the 166 member countries reviewed the operation of the multilateral trading system to adopt measures on the future work of the organization.
During the conference, which was chaired by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela expressed, under instructions from the President of the Republic Nicolás Maduro, its participation in the Agreement on Investment Facilitation to Development and delivered the instrument of acceptance of the Protocol of Amendment to the Marrakesh Agreement, which contains the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Venezuela also participated in meetings related to subsidies for fishing and agriculture, sessions in which the Vice Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion, Johann Álvarez Márquez, stated that the Republic considers important the defense of food sovereignty, complementarity, cooperation and solidarity between countries:
“For our country, food security is fundamental in our economic and social agenda, and despite unilateral coercive measures, we managed to achieve a food supply of 92% in 2023, with the goal of achieving 100% by 2024”, explained the Head of the Venezuelan delegation.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, since 2015, has been the object of more than 930 unilateral coercive measures and other restrictive measures, which have impacted access to essential goods such as food, which is why it denounced the 166 member countries of the WTO, the terrible impacts on the productive structure, the right to development and free trade.
The 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and ended on February 29, 2024.
