The WTO general council, on 26 May 2009, has agreed to hold the seventh session of the WTO ministerial conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 30 to December 2.
The general theme for discussion shall be "WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment". Talking about the main agenda of Nepal, Dr Badri Pokharel, chief of the WTO division at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies said, Nepal will focus on issues of trade facilitation, duty free quota free access for the least developed countries, and trade-related technical assistance. "During the 2001 Doha round there was an agreement in principle t by the ministerial meeting t for under-developed countries but regarding the technical side of carrying out the decision there has been no endorsement till now," said Dr Pokharel adding that this time they will raise urge the ministerial meeting to endorse the decision made in the 2001 Doha t round meeting. f Being a landlocked coun- i try and among LDCs, Nepal is bearing high cost. Therefore, the other agenda for Nepal will be talks regarding getting compensation t for the high cost it is bound to pay in the international market, Dr Pokharel said.
He added that Nepal will also be focusing on agricul- t tural negotiations, "Nepal i will actively participate in WTO agriculture negotia ions to ensure that its in erests are taken into account and that special and preferential treatment is granted," he said.
Given the global economic environment, this conference should be a much more lean and economical event than in the past. At the present junc ure, holding a lavish con erence would not only be nappropriate, but would also be seen as extravagance. This departure from past ministerial conferences could help members o establish a new model of ministerial-level meetings conducive to good governance and overall review of WTO. The sixth WTO minis erial conference was held n Hong Kong from December 13 to 18 in 2005.
No comments:
Post a Comment