New trade round must address needs of poor: Annan

New trade round must address needs of poor: Annan

Reuters
Doha

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday urged
world trade ministers to launch a fresh round of talks that meets
the needs of developing countries, saying a global recession
would have a devastating impact on poorer nations.

"If ever there was a time when broad agreement on the rules of
the international trading system was vitally needed, among
nations rich and poor, that time is now," Annan said in a
statement read on his behalf at the opening session of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in Qatar.

WTO chief Mike Moore and key trade ministers said they saw
encouraging prospects for launching a new round of talks on
further liberalizing world trade to help prevent global
recession, following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States
which have sent many economies into a tailspin.

A divide between rich and poor countries is set to dominate
the meeting, the first since a previous attempt to launch a fresh
round of talks collapsed in Seattle in 1999.

The U.N. Secretary General said eliminating trade barriers was
not enough. Policies were also needed to encourage developing
countries to escape from poverty.

"The world economy is now growing at the slowest pace in a
decade and the risk of global recession is rising," Annan said.
"The impact on the world's poorer nations will be devastating."

The WTO must work to restore market confidence, create new
export opportunities and resume growth, he said.

"Now, more than ever, we need to resist the siren voices of
protectionism, and work out multilateral solutions to our
problems," Annan added.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani appealed to the
rich industrialized countries to set up a more equitable trading
mechanism that would address the needs of the developing
countries and give them hope for the future.

"If we hope and aspire that the WTO contributes to pushing the
wheel of global economic development, it is important that it
takes into consideration the needs and aspirations of developing
countries whose peoples form a big percentage of the world's
population," Sheikh Hamad said in an opening speech.