The Hindu : Zoellick for strategic dialogue on global trade

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 15, 2004

International

International

Zoellick for strategic dialogue on global trade

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, FEB. 14. The U.S. Trade Representative, Robert B. Zoellick, has said here that "all countries have sensitivities'' on global trade negotiations.

Indicating that he was engaged in a "strategic dialogue'' with key countries on trade issues, Mr. Zoellick downplayed the idea that the U.S. was trying to zero in on any particular "hold-out country''.

At a press conference at the end of an informal regional meeting here on the Doha Development Agenda on Friday, he said: "I don't think there is any one hold-out country. I think countries have sensitivities to work through.''

While the "first step'' had been taken to "climb back from Cancun'', the task of clinching a multilateral accord "is something, by the nature of the WTO (World Trade Organisation), that we all have to do together''. The first step was taken by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bangkok last October, he said.

Mr. Zoellick, who arrived here after talks with officials in Tokyo and Beijing, said his tour of several capitals was "more of a strategic dialogue'' that was aimed at charting out "how to re-engage'' at the multilateral level.

The "good news'' was that "the U.S. economy is recovering nicely''.

He said the discussions here centred on "the importance of agriculture'', the issue of "getting an agreement to end export subsidies at some point'' and also "the need to resolve the Singapore issues''.

The Singapore Trade and Industry Minister, George Yeo, said "it will be very good if we can put the (Cancun) round back on track by the end of the year''.

Mr. Zoellick said that his talks in Beijing on Thursday showed that "the U.S.' and Chinese positions overlap quite well, actually, in terms of their overall interests''.

He underlined that he was "really inclined to listen to others, each step along the way'' in the climb-back from Cancun.

"What all of us (in the multilateral arena) have recognised is the need to combine working in Geneva with working in the capitals''.

One option for a way forward, according to Mr. Zoellick, "is to have a ministerial meeting later in the year''.

Noting that "we have the reality that the European Commission changes at the end of October'', he said there was also the "possibility of having something earlier in the year''.

We are open to those possibilities. Another idea was to explore "whether there may be a session in Geneva that may involve (the) ministerial (part)'' without necessarily being full-blown event of that kind.

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