Officials to discuss WTO

JAKARTA (JP): Senior officials from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will gather here tomorrow for a three-day meeting to discuss preparations for the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Singapore.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday that the Jakarta meeting, which will prepare materials for the WTO's first ministerial meeting in December, will focus on issues brought up by ministers from the WTO's member countries.

According to the ministry's statement, the Jakarta meeting is being organized by the Indonesian government in cooperation with ESCAP, the United Nations for Development Program and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Indonesia expressed its hope that the WTO could play an important role in reducing unilateral actions. The WTO requires member countries to adjust their regulations to its principles and mechanism for solving trade conflicts through multilateral arrangements.

"We expect that the WTO will become an effective international organization in managing and supervising world trade liberalization," said the statement. (13)