Brussels, 10/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The new head of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, has said he is encouraged - ahead of the ministerial conference in Bali - by the “determination” shown by APEC countries and India.
Azevedo's trips to Bali on 4 October, for a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific cooperation forum (a region which accounts for over 45% of global trade in goods), and to India on 7 October, have strengthened his optimism. The WTO will start the final stages of its preparations next week for the conference in Bali on 3-6 December, Azevedo told the WTO General Council on 9 October. He is expecting tangible progress on each of the three issues on which a partial agreement on the Doha round depends - trade facilitation, special and differentiated treatment including the needs of LDCs, and some elements of the agricultural chapter. (EH/transl.fl)