Brussels, 27/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the start of this the tenth year of Doha Round negotiations, the business world is growing impatient. As the main WTO players meet at ministerial level in Davos to discuss how to get the talks, which have been halted since July 2008, going again, industry and business in the developed and emerging economies are pressing for an agreement by the end of 2011.
Backed by American Chamber of Commerce to the EU AmCham-EU and similar organisations in Argentina, Canada and Turkey, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce Eurochambres, the National Confederation of Industry of Brazil CNI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry FICCI, and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry have set out their demands for trade ministers present in Davos, who, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, will consider ways to give fresh impetus to the Doha talks.
Reaffirming the key role that the WTO has in fostering economic growth and development, improving market access and promoting a stable, transparent multilateral system of trade rules, the business world repeats its belief that an ambitious, comprehensive and well balanced multilateral agreement can be reached before the end of the year. The chambers of commerce highlight the benefits that agreement would bring (as set out by the Peterson Institute for International Economics): gains derived from the agriculture and industrial goods negotiations of roughly US$65 billion in additional world exports annually and approximately US$100 billion in annual world GDP; a boost to global exports of between US$180 billion and US$520 billion annually; potential GDP gains of between US$300 billion and US$700 billion annually. They state, too, that the successful conclusion of the Doha Round would contribute significantly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The chambers of commerce warn, also, of the risk of failure for the whole multilateral system, in which the WTO is a guarantor of legal rights for business engaged in international trade and investment. They give their backing to the compromise texts drafted by the chairmen on agriculture and on industrial goods at the WTO, David Walker of New Zealand and Lucius Wasescha of Switzerland, and state that they believe that these texts should be accompanied by a compromise document on services. (E.H./transl.rt)