The Hindu : Resume WTO negotiations immediately: Straw

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 08, 2004

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Resume WTO negotiations immediately: Straw

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 7. The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, today said that it was necessary to resume negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) immediately and that both India and Britain had a common interest in ensuring that the round reached a "liberalising conclusion".

Addressing members of the industry on "Britain and India: a changing and prospering partnership" here, Mr. Straw said that at the Doha Round of WTO, India's active engagement was a conditional success.

Welcoming the statements made by the Union Commerce Minister, Arun Jaitley, reaffirming India's commitment to the trade round, Mr. Straw said it was a sign of a growing and changing partnership.

Both countries were seeking global dispute settlement arrangements. Britain would not practise protectionism and would continue to open up its economy. The policy emanated from the thinking that Britain as a whole would benefit.

Global free trade would have a positive impact on the economies of the world, and it was wrong to presume that powerful multinational companies and rich countries would amass wealth. "Breaking down barriers will help the poorest most of all." The European Commission had estimated that free trade would increase world income by $400 billion, or 1.4 per cent of the world's GDP, he added.

Mr. Straw said protectionism was more harmful than beneficial, and pointed out that subsidies in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development of India (OECD) member-nations amounted to more than half of the national incomes of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

Talking about agriculture, he said it was a bone of contention between Europe and countries such as India, with the latter seeking more access to European markets. Protectionism in agriculture had increased the cost of food. It was estimated in the European Union that the cost of food for a family of four was $1,500 per annum.

Job outsourcing

On the issue of job outsourcing, he said the markets had developed outsourcing, and globalisation was creating jobs in India, the U.K., and elsewhere. There were 5,500 call centres with a workforce of 4,000 in the U.K. A few call centres were moving to other countries including India while some were moving back to the U.K., he added

Mr. Straw said there was an amazing change in the business climate in India and a "palpable feel good" factor.

The number of Indian companies listed on the London Sock Exchange was more than those on the NASDAQ and the New York Sock Exchange put together. Two-thirds of overseas software professionals in the U.K. were from India, and the Indian community, which was 1.3 million strong, was the largest single ethnic minority and a prospering one.

Praising Bangalore for the strides it had made, Mr. Straw recalled his visit 25 years ago on a honeymoon and his stay at Hotel West End.

He said there had been an "astounding" growth in the city, particularly in the knowledge-based sector. Britain was linked through Indian IT companies such as Wipro, Mindtree, and Infosys. There were 70 British companies in Karnataka. Britain was the third largest investor in India, and in the past five years, Indian investment in the U.K. had increased.

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