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on February 11, 2005, at RIS Conference Hall, New Delhi-110003 |
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The countdown has begun for the Sixth Ministerial Conference of WTO to be held in Hong Kong in December 2005. It is widely seen as a penultimate Ministerial Conference before the conclusion of Doha Development Round of WTO. In order to take stock of the progress made in the Doha Round and the prospects and challenges for developing countries in run up to Hong Kong Ministerial, RIS organized a Seminar on February 11, 2005. Dr. Martin Khor Kok Peng, Director, Third World Network, Penang (Malaysia) and Geneva, (Switzerland) initiated the discussion and briefed about the latest developments. Shri B.L. Das, formerly Secretary, Government of India and India’s Permanent Representative to GATT in Geneva and a leading expert on the subject Chaired the seminar. The participants to the seminar included representatives from government departments, research institutes, business and industry cirlces. During the seminar Dr. Khor said that During the Uruguay Round countries were free to choose what formula they wanted to choose for cutting down their tariffs. Why don’t the countries agree to a Uruguay Round status quo and set targets for developing and developed countries? If this is a development round, then there should be flexibility for the developing countries. If the developing countries are going to give in to the developed countries’ argument, of giving access to their industry in lieu of their concessions in agriculture, then they are going to lose a lot. And, if the developing countries give in a lot in this Round then they would be in a very difficult situation in the next round. There is no coalition of developing countries for NAMA negotiations, such as the G-20 for agriculture. India should take the lead as no other country has such extensive research and knowledge of these issues. The government in India also has sophisticated machinery for negotiations and can certainly do a lot in getting all the developing countries together. So far the Doha Round has little to show as a development round and especially with regard to the damaging effects that the NAMA negotiations may have. There is a possibility of a fair outcome in agriculture if the subsidies are really reduced. There also has not been much improvement in the process of negotiations as well. Summing up the observations made at the Seminar Mr. Das said that the negotiations at the WTO are different from normal international negotiations. At these negotiations countries have to be unpopular if they wish to get the best from the negotiations. The role of the government is very important in this regard. The government has to adopt a clear and transparent national position. The government cannot give in to all kinds of pressure groups. To conclude the Seminar, Dr. Nagesh Kumar gave a vote of thanks to Dr. Martin Khor, Mr B.L Das and all the distinguished participants for their participation and contribution to the enriching discussion at the Seminar. |
