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.