Brussels, 21/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Some 20 countries, led by the United States, the EU and Japan, are to negotiate an international agreement to get round the deadlock of the Doha Round.
The American Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, last week confirmed, in a letter to the American Congress, the desire of the United States, Japan and the EU to negotiate an agreement designed to liberate trade in the services sector (banking activities, telecommunications, insurance, construction, etc).
Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, South Korea, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey will also attend the negotiations, which will take place in Geneva within 90 days.
As the multilateral negotiations of the Doha Round at the WTO - which includes a plank on the liberalisation of services - are at deadlock, with little or no prospect of being concluded anytime soon, the idea of opening negotiations on a plurilateral agreement on services has been up in the air for nearly a year in Geneva, but certain new economic powers such as China, India, Brazil and Russia are by no means convinced.
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an agreement of this kind may increase service exports within a hardcore of countries by $78 billion a year. The United States and the EU would be the main beneficiaries, with gains of $14 billion and $21 billion respectively. If Brazil, China and India joined, the commercial gain could increase by some 30%. (EH/transl.fl)