Cancun 10-14 Sep. 2003

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference  
Hong Kong, China, 13 to 18 December 2005.

 

WTO majority to prevail in upcoming talks: Lamy
Afp, Hong Kong
The Daily Star, 13-12-2005

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said Monday developing nations will succeed in gaining concessions on agriculture because they form a majority in the global trade organisation.

He told an international trade union conference that negotiations would be painful and difficult but they would result in substantial progress on agriculture.

"This is a complex-making (negotiation), it's a painful-making (negotiation) but it will result at the end of the negotiation in progress, substantial progress, which developing countries are looking for," he said.

"And you can rely on the fact that, with two-thirds of the members being developing countries, a consensus will not happen without something serious in this direction," he said.

The conference called "the global progressive forum" brought together international trade unionists on the eve of crucial WTO talks in Hong Kong on trade liberalisation.