HONG KONG, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar's Minister for Commerce Tin Naing Thein said Saturday his country supports efforts in the WTO to make significant reductions in the domestic and export subsidies in the agricultural sector and for their effective and efficient implementation in a timely manner.

    He made the remarks at the plenary session of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which opened here Tuesday.

    He said that from Myanmar's perspective, agriculture is the mainstay of the country's economy. "Our economy is mainly based on the export of primary agricultural products. In this context, market entry and sustainability of market opportunity for agricultural products remain a major issue of concern for Myanmar."

    "Supply side constraints such as technical requirements and capacity building to produce value-added goods are difficulties facing us domestically, while lack of competitiveness to enter new export markets and the viability and sustainability of existing markets are obstacles facing developing countries," Tin noted.

    He welcomed the decision of TRIPS Council adopted on Nov. 29 this year for the extension of transition period for least developed countries (LDCs).

    TRIPS refers to trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.

    In the services sector, Tin said, "Although we agree that the liberalization of services trade will contribute to the development of the economy of countries, the developing countries and particularly the LDCs are, however, unable to move forward in their efforts to further liberalize this sector in the absence of guarantees for technology transfer and investment in infrastructure development."

    The minister said Myanmar believes that the accession process of the LDCs should be accelerated so that they become full-fledged members of the WTO in their own right.

    The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, which is being attended by delegates from the WTO's 150 members and will wind up on Sunday, aims to advance the deadlocked Doha Round trade negotiations.

    The Doha Round trade talks, launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, have been stalled due to deep differences between the developed and developing members on market access, agriculture subsidies and tariff structure. Enditem