The Hindu : Business : WTO sees key role for UNIDO in post-Doha talks

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Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
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WTO sees key role for UNIDO in post-Doha talks

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, foresees a key role for the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in the post-Doha round of the current multi-lateral trade negotiations.

As industrial tariffs come down following the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations, building up of industrial and trade capacities of developing countries would be a vital pre-requisite to enable them to take advantage of the market openings that are expected to result from a successful conclusion of the Doha Round, Mr. Pascal Lamy said at the 12th General Conference of the UNIDO in Vienna.

He said his presence at the general conference was a strong signal of WTO’s support to UNIDO, which focusses on three main themes to help developing countries reduce poverty through increasing productive capacities, strengthen their ability to compete in global market, and to address the energy and environmental challenges.

Underlining the challenges facing industrial development in a changing global landscape, the UNIDO Director-General, Kandeh Yumkella, described climate change as an all-pervasive threat calling for immediate action.

Dr. Yumkella, who was recently selected to head UN-Energy, said: “The link between energy access and climate change needs to be reinforced and I believe that fighting climate change can only be moved forward if and when it is considered as part and parcel of the broader discourse on development.”

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