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The Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph WP Wong, urged Trade Ministers of World Trade Organisation (WTO) member economies to demonstrate the political will to exercise collective responsibility to conclude the Doha Round negotiations this year.
Mr Wong made the above remarks at the Trade Session of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) annual Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on May 24. During the meeting, ministers and government officials from different economies exchanged views on the progress of the Doha round of the multilateral trade negotiations initiated by the WTO.
"The WTO is the only international organisation dealing with the global rules of trade between economies. We must keep it alive by sustaining what it has been doing: that is to achieve progressive trade liberalisation," said Mr Wong.
Mr Wong quoted the World Bank's research, which suggests that the potential global gains from free trade could reach US$300 billion annually by 2015. The OECD has also estimated that developing countries would reap some US$68 billion of a potential $97 billion gain from full trade liberalisation in non-agricultural products.
Mr Wong pointed out that five months since the conclusion of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference last December, the negotiations had progressed so little that the deadline of April 30 to agree on the modalities for agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access) had been missed. He urged that the various texts including one on rules and anti-dumping should be ready in July at the latest to provide for intensive negotiations towards the final conclusion.
While in Paris, Mr Wong attended an informal meeting of Trade Ministers to exchange views on the latest state of play of the Doha Round. He also held bilateral meetings with a number of Trade Ministers including the European Commissioner for Trade, Mr Peter Mandelson, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Mr Jonas Gahr Store, and the Director General of the WTO, Mr Pascal Lamy.
Ends/Thursday, May 25, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:13
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