Trade ministers to review WTO talks in May in Paris

Ajay Kaul
On Board PM's Special Aircraft, Apr 17 (PTI) Key trade
ministers would meet in Paris in the last week of May to find
ways for giving impetus to the much-delayed Doha negotiations
for a deal on opening commerce.
India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma,
accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told reporters
that the principal stakeholders would meet before the next
meeting of the G-20 scheduled in June. The Prime Minister
returned home on Saturday after a two-nation tour of the US
and Brazil.
"Ministers will be taking stock of the progress on the
margins of the OECD Ministerial meeting in Paris on May
25-26," he said.
In his address at the IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa)
Summit at Brasilia on April 16, Singh impressed upon the
leaders for an early conclusion of the Doha Round of trade
negotiations and ending the protectionists policies.
"We should continue to pursue the early conclusion of the
Doha Round and trade negotiations because a fair and rule-
based multilateral trading system is in our interest," he
had said.
Sharma said the progress on the talks was slow as there
has been a long delay in the appointment and confirmation of
ambassador and chief negotiator of the US in Geneva, the WTO
headquarters.
Over 150 WTO members have been negotiating a new
agreement for liberalising the world trade since 2001 without
a breakthrough.
The talks have been marred by wide differences between
the developed and developing countries on the level of opening
and protection of their respective markets. PTI AKK
MYR