Brussels, 02/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) intends to hold a restricted ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, which will take place at the end of January 2005 in Davos (Switzerland), according to the Director General of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi. "There will be several ministers present in Davos, and we will probably be able to hold an informal ministerial meeting with around 20 of the 25 ministers" out of the 148 member countries of the WTO, said Mr Supachai.
Furthermore, in the course of 2005, the WTO hopes to hold a series of meetings between Trade Ministers to plan its formal ministerial conference, which is scheduled for 13 to 18 December in Hong Kong.