The stalked WTO trade talks received a fresh leash of life with Group of Eight (G-8) leaders pledging that they will direct their negotiators to break a deadlock in the talks within a month, in a step towards securing a long-awaited global trade accord.

The assurances show that not all is lost, after all. It shows that the leaders are aware of the importance of this trade round and their call to ask WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy, to consult members intensively in order to promote early agreement is indeed good news.

With the ball set rolling, members should now work on negotiating modalities on agriculture and industrial tariffs within a timeframe. Moreover, countries should now commit themselves wholeheartedly in a bid to reach a successful conclusion of the Doha round.

Rich countries have to remove barriers for the inflow of goods of traditional production and also stop full-scale subsidising of their exports at the state level. The import tariffs and agricultural supports that jeopardize global prices and prevent developing countries from getting a foothold in the global economy should be done away with.

I strongly feel that successful completion of the negotiations will boost the global economy and lower commercial barriers across all sectors – making things easier for the Exim community. The time is ripe for all nations to work with utmost urgency for the conclusion of the round by 2006-end to strengthen multilateral trading system.

Monthly Economic & Commercial Report on Thailand for quarter ending June 2006 giving latest updates on developments directly affecting India's foreign trade and investment.  
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