Asian countries to gain from global trade talks

Asian countries to gain from global trade talks

SINGAPORE (AP): Asian countries reluctant to embark on a new
round of global trade negotiations can only benefit from
liberalization, European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy
said Saturday.

Southeast Asia, which is recovering from the 1997-1998
economic slump, needs more growth, more exports, more market
access, Lamy told The Associated Press.

Lamy, who was in Indonesia earlier this week, was visiting
Singapore to build support for a new round of trade talks after
the failure of December's World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting
in Seattle.

Many developing countries are reluctant to hold new
multilateral trade talks, arguing that they have not received the
benefits they expected from the last round, the Uruguay Round,
which ended in 1993.

Under the agreement concluding the Uruguay Round, nations
committed themselves to a progressive removal of quotas on
textiles over a 10-year period.

Earlier this month, a group of 24 developing nations attacked
the United States, the European Union and Canada for failing to
open their markets to clothing and textiles, which are crucial
sectors for poorer nations.

Rich countries say they are meeting their obligation to lift
the restrictions gradually.

Lamy said issues like agriculture and textiles "should and
could be addressed" during a new round.

But, he said, poor nations should sit down and negotiate with
rich countries to obtain increased market access and lower
national subsidies in such sectors.

In Singapore, Lamy met with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong,
Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo and Minister for
Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong.

They discussed bilateral and multilateral trade, as well as
specific issues such as information technology and electronic
commerce.

Lamy said the EU and Singapore had "converging views" on the
need to hold a new round of global trade talks, "possibly this
year."

"We are eye-to-eye," he said.

Both the EU and Singapore agreed that China should join the
WTO this year or at the beginning of next year at the latest,
Lamy said.

During meetings with Indonesian officials earlier this week,
Lamy addressed EU concerns over illegally-set forest fires meant
to clear land for farming but +that spread haze over the region
and illegal logging.

Over the past four years, the EU has invested more than 100
million euros (US$92.6 million) on reforestation in Indonesia,
Lamy said.

"We are pushing hard so that this money is not unduly spent. I
know it's difficult (for the Indonesian government), but part of
the answer is in their hands," he said.
Lamy leaves Sunday.