The Hindu : Business : Lamy sees prospects of Doha talks in June

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Tuesday, Mar 13, 2007
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Lamy sees prospects of Doha talks in June

Special Correspondent

Pranab: meet aspirations of developing countries

— PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

A RAY OF HOPE: Director General, World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy (right), and Union Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath (centre), share a lighter moment as Minister for External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, inaugurates a seminar in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy said there was a strong possibility of Doha Round talks resuming by June even as over 100 protestors were taken into preventive custody outside a luxury hotel, the venue of the seminar held here on Monday.

"There has been pretty good movement and we have the opportunity of closing the gap some time by the end of June. The landing zone has started to appear. The push is coming from political leaders who realise that the cost of failure would be huge,'' Mr. Lamy said at the seminar on "Saving Doha and delivering on development,'' organised by the Central Government along with an apex industry chamber and some civil society organisations.

"We need to speed up the process so as to grasp the window of opportunity which closes by the end of June. In June, the U.S. administration's mandate from the legislature to accept any deal at the WTO expires,'' he explained.

"The prospects of closing the gap appear more plausible and probable than ever. We are at a delicate and critical moment and have a possibility to deliver,'' he said, pointing out that major players at the previous round such as the U.S., India, Brazil and the European Union were `close' to making offers which could restart the talks.

While admitting that the movement was slower than expected, Mr. Lamy hoped emerging countries would provide access to farm goods in the "right proportion'' that could see U.S. reducing its farm subsidies and EU the customs tariff.

Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee called upon the developed world to correct distortions in world trade, especially in agriculture, to meet the aspirations of developing countries.

"Export subsidies of all forms must be eliminated by a certain date and domestic support substantially reduced under the Doha Round in order to provide market access opportunities to all,'' he said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that in case developed countries coerced developing countries into making excessive concessions, they could hurt themselves in the process.

"If the purchasing power in developing countries comes down who will buy the goods produced by industrialised countries?'' he asked.

Meanwhile, protestors drawn from trade unions, migrant workers, farmers and NGO activists gathered outside the gate of the seminar venue to protest the `manufacturing' of consensus behind closed doors in advance of confabulation between G-33 nations.

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