Govt sees balanced outcome under Lamy
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government welcomes the prospect of former European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy of France in taking over the top job in the World Trade Organization (WTO), a minister says.
Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu said Lamy was a seasoned global trade negotiator who had a solid track record.
"He understands the interests of developing countries and has a sense of (the importance of) development. We hope that he will keep his promise to fight for a balanced outcome (of the WTO negotiation rounds)," Mari said on Monday.
As the EU's trade chief from 1999 to last year, Lamy sided with developing countries by fighting to reduce farm export subsidies, even though his stance drew criticism from his own country.
Mari noted that after the trade talks collapsed in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003, Lamy worked together with former U.S. trade representative Robert Zoellick in pushing hard to produce the so- called July Package last year to revive the talks.
"We are now looking forward to seeing Lamy deliver the 'D' in the DDA (Doha Development Agenda) and the 'C' in capacity building. He must know that developing countries are in need of capacity building," she said.
Lamy is set to replace Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand and become the new WTO head after a selection team led by Kenyan ambassador Amina Mohamed recommended him for the post, AFP reported.
His rival candidate, Uruguayan diplomat Carlos Perez del Castillo, announced last week his withdrawal from selection after the special selection panel of three trade diplomats declared Lamy had the most support among the WTO's 148 members.
One of the first tasks facing Lamy, 58 -- a socialist and former French civil servant, who lists jogging, tennis and cycling as his hobbies -- will be to help guide the WTO to success at its next ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December.
The conference aims to approve a draft deal on lowering barriers to trade, opening the way for the Doha Round to be wrapped up in 2006.
The talks on a global free trade agreement, launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, have already sailed past a planned end- 2004 conclusion date.