On February 25, 123 WTO members held a ministerial meeting on Investment Facilitation for Development in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, marking the finalization of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement. Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei and Ambassador of China’s Permanent Mission to the WTO Li Chenggang also attended the meeting.

Wang said that President Xi Jinping has stressed development is the right of all countries and China is pursuing the modernization for all developing countries through joint efforts. Launched and advanced by developing members focusing on development, the IFD Agreement aims to facilitate global cross-border investment, improve the business environment, expand foreign investment, increase income of people and boost economic growth in developing members.

Wang pointed out that the conclusion of the IFD Agreement is another major victory for multilateralism and a model for promoting the inclusive development of the multilateral trading system. This also reflects the innovation and development of the WTO rules system and proves that the WTO is capable of pushing its own reform in the right direction. At present, three quarters of WTO members have participated in the IFD Agreement. China is ready to work with all participants to encourage more members to join the agreement as soon as possible and support the integration of the agreement into the WTO legal system.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Vice President Pablo Saavedra and other representatives of international organizations, as well as more than 20 ministers from Chile, Korea and other participating members recognized the IFD agreement as significant milestone. The participants issued a Joint Ministerial Declaration and agreed to submit the agreement to the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference to incorporate the IFD Agreement into the WTO legal system.