Commerce
Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury
has said initiatives of civil
society are critically important
to put pressure on the developed
countries to place the LDC's concerns
and interests in the heart of
the current WTO negotiations.
"Although
the draft ministerial text takes
into consideration the LDC's
interests, the United States
has come out very strongly against
it", he said while speaking
at the inaugural session of
a symposium organised by the
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
on the Post-Doha Marginalisation
of LDC Concerns here on Friday.
The
CPD, which is being represented
by a three-member delegation,
is participating in, and organizing
various events in Cancun with
an objective to advance LDC
interests in the context of
the ongoing WTO Ministerial
Meeting in Cancun, Chaired by
CPD Executive Director Dr Depapriya
Bhattacharya, the inaugural
function was also addressed
by Commerce Secretary Suhel
Ahmed Choudhury and Chairman
of the Geneva-based International
Centre for Trade and Sustainable
Development (ICTSD) Dr Taufiq
Banuri.
The
Commerce Minister, also the
Vice Chairman of WTO Ministerial
Meeting, said there was no visible
breakthrough yet in the special
as well as differential treatment
and capacity building support
to the LDC's although they were
trying to uphold their agendas
for expanded markets in the
developed countries.
"A
lot of discussions are taking
place here on agricultural market
access and Singapore issues,
while there are strong opposing
positions among the WTO members",
he added.
Suhel
Ahmed Choudhury expressed his
frustration regarding the progress
so far in the negotiations and
observed that if the LDC's demands
are not fulfilled, they should
take a fresh look at the multilateral
trading regime after the ministerial
meeting is over. The inaugural
session was followed by four
working sessions on "Market
Access and Meaningful Integration
of LDC's in Multilateral Trading
regime", GATS Negotiation's,
Some Gains But Long Way to Go,"
S and D and Technical Assistance"
and WTO Accession".
Experts
from CPD, North-South Institute,
Ottawa and leading experts from
Nepal and India presented papers.
Members of the government delegations
from developing and least-developed
countries, representatives from
leading NGOs and advocacy groups,
experts and journalists attended
the symposium.
