The
developed countries have not shown
interest in the LDCs' agenda at
the Cancun WTO ministerial. Hopes
of Bangladesh, the co-ordinator
for world's 49 least developed
countries, and the other LDCs
for allowing temporary movements
of semi-skilled personnel almost
faded out as the United States
took a firm stand against the
agenda, according to a message
received here yesterday.
Bangladesh
would give a second thought to
the multilateral trade regime,
after getting the cold shoulder
from the big players to its agenda
at the WTO ministerial. A
great deal of frustration crept
in as soon as the negotiators
at the Cancun meet crossed the
mid-point of the 5-day parley
on world trade. The negotiation
"facilitators" wrapped
up their first round of consultations
and began drafting a new ministerial
declaration.
"There
is no discernible breakthrough
yet," Bangladesh delegation
leader Commerce Minister Amir
Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told an
evaluation symposium on the sidelines
of the Cancun trade summit on
Friday, the third day of the meet. Centre
for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised
the symposium titled "Post
Doha Marginalisation of LDC Concerns"
with its Executive Director Dr
Debapriya Bhattacharya in the
chair.
The
Geneva-based International Centre
for Trade and Sustainable Development
(ICTSD) was the co-sponsor of
the parallel trade talks.
Khosru
apprised the meeting that all
in the poor-country ship Dhaka
is steering were trying to push
their agenda in the areas of market
access, special and differential
treatment and capacity-building
support from the rich nations. Sharing
his thoughts on the progress,
he said as of now, a lot of discussions
took place on agricultural market
access and the Singapore issues,
but the WTO members stood wide
apart in their opinions.
"These
issues are staring at each other
and everyone is waiting who will
blink first," said the minister,
who is also the vice-chairman
of the Ministerial Meet. He
said the US came out very strongly
against the issue of movement
of natural persons although the
draft declaration text of the
ministerial takes into consideration
the LDCs' interests.
The
civil-society initiatives would
be critically important in putting
pressure on the developed countries
in the context of current negotiations
to uphold LDC concerns and interests,
the minister told his audience. Addressing
the inaugural session of the daylong
symposium, alternative leader
of the Bangladesh delegation commerce
secretary Suhel Ahmed vented his
frustration on the progress of
the WTO ministerial.
He observed that if the demands
of the LDCs were not met, they
should take a fresh look at the
multilateral trading regime after
the ministerial meeting is over. The
CPD is being represented by a
three-member civil-society delegation
in the Cancun assembly of trade
ministers, officials and other
stakeholders from across the world.
The policy thinktank is organising
various events aimed at advancing
LDC interests in the context of
the ongoing ministerial discussions
in the Mexican city.
The
inaugural session was followed
by four working sessions on "Market
Access and Meaningful Integration
of LDCs in Multilateral Trading
Regime", "GATTS Negotiations;
Some Gains But Long Way to Go",
S &D and Technical Assistance"
and "WTO Accession". Experts
from the CPD, North South Institute,
Ottawa and leading experts of
Nepal and India presented papers.
A
number of government delegations
from developing and least-developed
countries, representatives from
leading non-governmental organisations,
advocacy groups, experts, and
newsmen were present at the
symposium.
