Asian ministers differ on support for WTO round
Asian ministers differ on support for WTO round
MELBOURNE (AFX-ASIA): Senior Asian trade ministers attending the World Economic Forum's Asia Pacific summit in Melbourne have given their broad support for a new round of WTO trade negotiations, although opinion significantly differed as to the timing and agenda of the round.
Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan said that while Indonesia was a full supporter of the Uruguay Round, the benefits from the round are not yet evident in developing countries.
"The benefits have proven to be very illusory," he said. "The multinational trading system has failed to provide a framework where Indonesia could benefit."
Pandjaitan said the most pressing concern over the next WTO round is the new obligations and commitments that would result when Indonesia is still absorbing the full economic impact of the last round.
He also called for the next WTO round to be entirely focused on promoting the interests of developing countries, in particular on improving access to the markets of developed countries for exports from developing countries.
But Hisamitsu Arai, Japan's vice minister of international affairs, called for an invitation to be extended to countries to get a new round of WTO talks initiated as soon as possible, and encouraged an expansion of the trade agenda to other sectors of the economy.
Australia's Minister of Trade Mark Vaile warned however that there must be more preparatory work carried out before ministers are called together.
He also said mid-ranking economies must play a much greater role in the lead-up to the next round instead of most preparatory work being carried out by the major economies.
"The dynamics of the WTO have changed and changed forever," Vaile said. "Middle-ranked economies have to be listened to."
Vaile also said that Australia is looking at a regional free trade area which would include ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, and said that this would result in A$50 billion of GDP benefits across the region.
Hong Kong Secretary for Trade and Industry Chau Tak Hay said that any talk of an early launch of a new round of WTO talks must be discarded.
"The U.S. and Europe are still -- much to my dismay -- talking about a new round in the rest of 2000 or in January. This is totally unrealistic," he said, adding that there is no point in embarking on a new round of negotiations with a "lame duck" U.S. administration.
He said that realistically late 2001 is the earliest possible date to launch a new WTO round.
He also said that Europe in particular must show some flexibility on the agenda for the round.
"The biggest roadblock is the ambitious comprehensive new round that the EU is advocating," he said, adding that this would lead to another failure like Seattle.