The Hindu : Business : ‘Good prospects for successful conclusion of Doha Round’

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Tuesday, Aug 14, 2007
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‘Good prospects for successful conclusion of Doha Round’

Special Correspondent

— PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

SORTING OUT ISSUES: Harsha Vardhana Singh (left), Deputy Director General, World Trade Organisation, with Harsh Pati Singhania, Chairman, FICCI Manufacturing Committee, at a conference in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: The trade negotiations at the Doha Round enter the ‘last phase’ with ‘reasonably good prospects for a successful conclusion,’ Harsha Vardhana Singh, Deputy Director General, World Trade Organization (WTO), said here on Monday.

Addressing a FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) meeting on ‘WTO and Doha negotiations: Closing the gaps and the way forward’, Dr. Singh said the results of the negotiations, which would be resumed in early September, would be known by late September or early October. “Member nations are willing to go forward; there is a convergence of views,” he said adding that the ground had been set for dealing with the nitty-gritties.

Dr. Singh said, “the draft proposals released in mid-July have two important political aspects. One, they offer large degree of results for the very poor developing countries and two, the Aid for Trade Initiative, which focuses on transparency, building up supply side capacities, along with possibilities of enhanced aid, would be a blessing for the very poor nations.”

Harsh Pati Singhania, Chairman, FICCI Manufacturing Committee, noted that the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) draft in its present form was not acceptable to Indian trade and industry, because it had failed to reflect the concerns of developing countries and in several ways it was not consistent with the Doha mandate.

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