Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 December 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, spoke on a number of issues at the WTO General Council (17-19 December 2023).

Item 16: The contribution of the Multilateral Trading System to Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems – Statement by the Cairns Group (GC/261)

Thank you to the Cairns Group for their statement. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said, agricultural markets are facing a triple challenge providing adequate, affordable, safe, nutritious food for a growing global population.

Providing livelihoods all along the food value chain, and at the same time, increasing the sustainability of the agricultural sector.

We all need to be thinking about how we align our work across different WTO fora, and wider international fora, and have a serious conversation about sustainability and resilient food systems.

We also really welcome the statement out of COP28: the declaration on sustainable agriculture, food system, and climate action.

This calls for exactly the strengthening of the rules-based multilateral trading system, with this organisation, with its fantastic leadership, at its very core.

A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution. And that includes elements highlighted in this Cairns Group declaration, including progressing agricultural reform, to promote fair, rules-based, market-orientated, agricultural trade.

Key to that effort is repurposing the way in which public support is directed towards agriculture to improve the activity, the resilience and sustainability of agricultural practices and systems.

So it is absolutely right that we have a serious conversation about sustainability, about resilience of our food systems, here in this organisation, as part of a wider conversation we need to have, urgently, about how we use this organisation, and the trading system, to support the transition to net zero and save our planet.

Item 18: Information on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) – Request from Chile and Korea

Thank you Chair.

We rightly talk a lot about the importance of this organisation in development. It is great to hear the reaction to the fabulous work being led by the brilliant co-facilitators.

This is a significant new agreement that we genuinely hope is going to turbo-charge sustainable development, so as to equip developing and Least Developed Countries (LDC) Members to address the global poli-crisis.

As we all know, this IFD is the largest with 116 participants (over two thirds of the Membership of this organisation.)

The agreement shows for us that this organisation can deliver for global trade, and for development, and we can address these current economic challenges.

Facilitating investment flows, is, as we all know, a key driver of economic growth, productivity and development.

We think it is going to provide significant economic benefits for Members, in particular for developing countries, by removing barriers to investment and reducing transaction costs.

It is predicted to increase global welfare by almost 2 per cent, boost cross-border investment – absolutely key to closing the US$4 trillion funding gap in the SDGs so we look forward to the successful incorporation in the WTO in due course and to celebrating this achievement at MC13, where Members from over two thirds of the organisation will join together to mark our shared ambition of driving sustainable global development.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 December 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, delivered a statement on Ministerial Conferences at the WTO General Council (17-19 December 2023).

Item 3: Follow-up to outcomes of Ministerial Conferences

Thank you first for your thanks for our contribution to the Fish fund, and ratification of the agreement.

On reform, let me welcome the efforts of the Secretariat and all the efforts that we, the Members have put into institutional reform.

As you know, the UK (and 55 Members) presented a paper to this Committee on this very important issue. We talk about showing progress. Since MC12, we can be proud of the work we have done as an organisation, and it shows how much we can achieve if we just get on with it.

Look at the work of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG); just one example, 120 reforms across that Committee. At the heart of that, ensuring that we build trust, and that we ensure even the very smallest delegation here can engage in our work in a way that is constructive.

On the pandemic response and TRIPs we have done some really important work on the pandemic response, following on the statement from MC12, which obviously needs to continue.

On TRIPS it is clear that the reality, despite all the discussions we have had, there is no consensus amongst Members on whether or not the extension on therapeutics and diagnostics is genuinely required. It is also true that the MC12 decision, which we spent so much time elaborating, has not been used.

So we need to think carefully about extending the value of something that does not appear to help all that much as we had hoped on the ground. So, without understanding the consequences of extending that decision we risk compromising the very international IP system that we have worked so effectively to develop, and has been, in our view, so useful to us in that pandemic response.

In our view, we need to build on the TRIPS Agreement. To build on the way it works, not undermine it, and we need to broaden the conversation on the longer-term initiative to increase access to medicines as we are hoping to achieve, with our paper on voluntary licensing and technology transfers. We recognise that voluntary licences are not a silver bullet, as is clear in the Annexes to our papers, but there are clear examples of their successful use. We are really pleased with the response to the paper, and we want to thank each and every Member who has engaged with us on it. And we want to encourage all of us to share our experiences and we look forward to further engagement in this area in the New Year.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 December 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, delivered the United Kingdom’s statement on 14 December 2023 at the Global Refugee Forum.

High Commissioner. Excellencies. Ladies and gentlemen.

We are living in a time of unprecedented international challenges, with global displacement at extraordinary levels and rising.

In recent years, we have seen countries rally around to support the growing number of refugees around the world. Conflict, pandemics, and climate change have had an enduring impact on us.

But as the challenges increase, so must our efforts.

I want to acknowledge the continued generosity and leadership of host nations and communities. You all play a vital role in providing sanctuary to forcibly displaced people.

Without your leadership, they would be forced to go on dangerous journeys, risking their lives and exploitation from the most vicious people traffickers.

We emphatically believe the Global Compact on Refugees is the best strategy to support refugees and their host communities.

It plays a fundamental part in ensuring the international protection regime is fit for the 21st century. And that it protects the most vulnerable in our communities, including women and girls, the LGBT+ community and those with disabilities.

Since 2015, the UK has provided international protection to over half a million people.

Globally, we are among the top five donors to refugee responses. But we know that is not enough. We need to do more, much more.

The UK has fulfilled each of the pledges that we made back here in 2019. Today, we are going further and making 15 pledges to tackle a whole range of issues such as:

• Improving access to education;
• Tackling gender-based violence;
• Supporting the Rohingya and their host communities;
• Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to predict and prevent conflicts and crises;
• Building resilience of refugee and host communities to climate impacts;
• and providing sustained support to refugees who settle in the UK.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 December 2023.

The UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Chief Economist, Professor Adnan Khan, visited Timor-Leste on 14 and 15 December 2023 to enhance bilateral collaboration on economic development.

The visit comes just two months after FCDO Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, visited Timor-Leste and became the first UK minister to visit since the country gained independence in 2002.

During his visit, Professor Khan met with the Central Bank Governor Helder Lopes to discuss how the UK can support the development of Timor-Leste’s financial services sector through the ASEAN Economic Integration Programme (AEIP), which launched earlier this year. He also met with Minister for Trade and Industry Filipus Nino Pereira and launched a flagship UK-funded project supporting Timor-Leste’s accession into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The project will help Timor-Leste develop a nationwide certificate of origin scheme, which will benefit local exporters as the country looks to deepen integration into regional and global value chains. The launch reaffirms the UK’s sustained support for Timor-Leste’s smooth accession into ASEAN. Professor Khan also delivered a lecture at the National University of East Timor to share the UK’s revamped approach on International Development, as reflected in the recently launched white paper titled “International Development in a Contested World: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change”.

FCDO Chief of Economist Professor Adnan Khan, said:

I was delighted to be in Dili for the first time to launch this important project. Timor-Leste has made huge strides in its WTO accession, and now the UK looks forward to supporting Timor-Leste as it seeks ASEAN accession.

UK Ambassador to Timor-Leste Dominic Jermey said:

The UK is committed to deepening our partnership with Timor-Leste, and I’m delighted that the FCDO’s chief economic Professor Adnan Khan visited Dili recently to discuss ways we can enhance our cooperation. The launch of the ASEAN Economic Community Accession project demonstrates our commitment to supporting Timor-Leste’s smooth accession into ASEAN. We look forward to seeing the benefits this project will bring to the Timorese economy.

UK Ambassador to ASEAN Sarah Tiffin said:

As a committed ASEAN Dialogue partner, the UK is committed to assisting Timor-Leste through the process of its accession to ASEAN. The visit by FCDO Chief Economist Professor Adnan Khan to Timor-Leste and the initiation of a UK-funded project dedicated to facilitating Timor-Leste’s accession to the ASEAN Economic Community project are concrete demonstrations of this strong commitment.

Minister for Trade and Industry, H.E. Filipus Nino Pereira, said:

I would like to thank the UK government for its support. This project will help us meet the ASEAN and WTO accession requirements. This initiative also reflects our ongoing commitment to diversifying our economy and deepening our regional economic integration.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 December 2023.

The UK and international partners join together to establish The Tallinn Mechanism to bolster Ukraine’s cyber security.

As part of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the world has witnessed an unrelenting cyber assault against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure, from banking to energy supplies and innocent Ukrainian people.

As a result, The foreign ministries of Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States have formalised the Tallinn Mechanism on 20 December 2023. It aims to coordinate and facilitate civilian cyber capacity building to help Ukraine uphold its fundamental right to self-defence in cyber space, and address longer-term cyber resilience needs.

The UK’s primary delivery agent of cyber capacity building in Ukraine is our CSSF UK-Ukraine Cyber Programme, expanded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in June 2023. The programme has delivered over £10 million to bolster Ukraine’s cyber defences since the invasion.

Through this programme, the UK has stood side by side with Ukrainian cyber defenders. For example, the UK funded its partner Mandiant to combat a reported Russian cyber-attack it attributed to Sandworm, a unit within Russian Military Intelligence (GRU), against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure causing a power outage.

Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, and lead Minister for the Conflict Stability and Security Fund Baroness Neville-Rolfe said:

The UK and Ukraine are fighting side by side in the cyberwar against Russia whose appalling attacks know no bounds. Russia is attacking Ukraine’s cyber infrastructure in order to harm innocent people, choke the economy and sow confusion.

That is why the UK is supporting Ukraine with state of the art technology, tools and expertise to thwart these cruel attacks, including those on critical infrastructure. Our support remains steadfast.

The Mechanism aims to interface routinely with other donor initiatives, coordinate and de-conflict, including regular engagement with the EU and NATO.