Wednesday, February 10, 2010

December 01, 2009 21:31 PM

Malaysia Wants Successful Conclusion To Doha Round In 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed has called on ministers responsible for trade in the world to exercise leadership and political will to successfully conclude the Doha Round in 2010.

"Otherwise, the eight years of hard work put in would amount to nothing and all efforts would have been in vain," he said yesterday when addressing the ongoing Seventh World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting began on November 30 and will end on December 2.

The Ministerial Conference focused on WTO's role in enhancing the multilateral trading system and in addressing the current global economic environment, according to a statement issued by his ministry here on Tuesday.

Mustapa, in his statement at the plenary session yesterday, acknowledged the WTO's important role as the governing body of the multilateral trading system, as it provided clear rules for meaningful participation of all countries in international trade.

He recalled that WTO's worth was proven during the recent crisis as it prevented countries from taking the easy route of resorting to protectionism in the face of the challenging circumstances arising from the financial crisis.

The minister emphasised while the WTO had done well it should be open to efforts to review the effectiveness of the organisation.

He urged senior officials to step up work in Geneva to bridge all gaps in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations over the next few weeks.

"We should be steadfast in our commitment to conclude the Doha Round by the end of 2010. For that to happen, Malaysia would like all gaps to be bridged by the first quarter of 2010.

"In this connection, we should engage in the coming months on the basis of progress achieved, thus far, and resist re-opening issues which have stabilised," he stressed.

Mustapa said the Doha Round was critical for global economic recovery and sustainable development of developing countries.

He called on developed countries to substantially reduce agriculture subsidies as this was very critical for achieving the development mandate of the Doha Round.

The WTO, which currently has 153 Members, was established on January 1, 1995 and replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1994.

On the sidelines of the conference, Mustapa also had the opportunity to meet with members of the Organisation of Islamic Council (OIC) as well as his counterparts from the Cairns Group, representing key agriculture exporting members.

Discussions with OIC also focused on capacity building initiatives by the Islamic Development Bank to enhance participation of OIC members in WTO negotiations.

The OIC meeting also proposed the formation of an informal group of OIC members to provide support to those seeking accession to the WTO.

Mustapa urged OIC members to ratify the Agreement on Trade Preferential System of the OIC in order to promote economic cooperation and enhance trade and investment between OIC members.

In addressing the Cairns Group, Mustapa stressed the need to maintain a high level of ambition to ensure that member countries, especially developing countries, benefit from agriculture market access initiatives.

He reminded the Group that it must exert the necessary political will to conclude negotiations of the DDA, in general, and agriculture specifically. He said that leaders are morally obliged to ensure that push for agriculture reform.

Mustapa also attended the Ministerial Meeting of the Informal Group of Developing Countries (IGDC) which met to coordinate positions and assess developments in the current trading environment.

The IGDC issued a statement which stressed the importance of advancing the Doha negotiations and ensuring that development remains the core of the Doha outcome.

It also called for the WTO to remain inclusive, transparent and equitable in order to safeguard trade openness and integration of developing countries into the world trade system.

-- BERNAMA

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