WEF Participants Endorse Development Of Free Trade

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

03 February 2009

Twenty international ministers in charge of WTO affairs for their respective countries met in Davos, Switzerland on January 31 with Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard to discuss how trade and the Doha Round had been affected by the global economic crisis. They were joined by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.

In her personal conclusions, Federal Councillor Leuthard underlined the importance of open trade for economic recovery, which means hard work on the Doha Round and utmost restraint on protectionist trade measures.

Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard reminded her colleagues that in these difficult economic times, trade needs to be enhanced in order to ensure jobs and prosperity in all countries. At the same time, governments are facing a stiffer wind on the domestic front and calls for protectionist measures are growing. She welcomed the fact that the Ministers present endorsed the multilateral trading system, which, with its rules-based system greatly enhances trade and growth. She said that there was a need to re-establish credibility in the multilateral trade negotiations by quickly reaching a positive outcome in the Doha negotiations.

In order to assume leadership in the Doha negotiations, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard suggested that Ministers meet more regularly to take stock of what has been achieved in the negotiations and provide impetus for the work ahead. She also urged for utmost restraint on trade measures and expressed her full support for the transparency initiative on trade measures proposed by Director General Pascal Lamy.

Furthermore, trade ministers present at a WEF dinner on Friday night joined the views expressed by Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard in a declaration on 'Open Trade for Economic Recovery'.

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