Get Doha Round Moving, Says Brown

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Tang Li, Arab News

SINGAPORE, 18 September 2006 — Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown urged countries across the world to resist rising protectionist sentiments and to get the Doha Round of trade talks moving at a press conference for the IMF’s International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC).

Brown, who was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the IMFC, noted that prospects for the global economy looked good but faced the potential risk from global trade imbalances and high oil prices. However, Brown said that, “the most worrying for the long term, worrying for growth in all areas of the world, is the stalling of the Doha Round of world trade talks.”

He told reporter, “The IMFC Committee was united in expressing our deep disappointment (with rising protectionist sentiments), and these are the words in our communiqué, that the trade negotiations had been suspended, but we went on to urge all nations and all members of the World Trade Organization to resist protectionist calls.” Brown then went onto mention that the IMFC had called for, “leadership from major trading nations to work urgently toward an early resumption of the negotiations,” and an successful outcome to talks by the end of the year that would be, “based on a commitment to a comprehensive package on agriculture, industrial products and services, to which all countries will need to contribute.”

He expressed optimism after a briefing by WTO director-general, Pascal Lamy and said that, “there is a basis for a deal,” and that, “countries are now seized of both the importance of a deal and the urgency of achieving one.” Brown went onto to tell reporters that he believed that, “prospects of such a deal are enhanced by the pledges of more than $4 billion a year that have been made by the richest countries to the developing world to aid trade for infrastructure development, money that will be of benefit to reforming the infrastructure communications transport, of developing economies.” Brown also mentioned that the determination of US treasury secretary, Henry Paulson to break the deadlock had provided him with a sense of optimism.

However, as Brown spoke, Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath poured cold water on the chances of a breakthrough, saying too many Indians scraped a living from the land for India to continuous opening up its market further to imports of farm goods.

“There is no question of India making concessions at all where agriculture is concerned because our issue is subsistence,” Nath, a pivotal player in the Doha talks, told reporters. India was also at the forefront in objecting to a blueprint to overhaul the governance of the 184-member IMF to better reflect the growing clout of emerging economies. Brown did mention that the IMF should concentrate on its work to help low-income countries to enjoy sustained growth and backed by macroeconomic reforms that support the achievement of the important millennium development goals. Brown thanked IMF managing director, Rodrigo de Rato and World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz for the progress they had made on debt relief to developing countries.

He noted: “The new global challenges that we have been considering require more than ever the IMF to keep pace with the global and multilateral nature of today’s economies,” and he said that quota reforms at IMF (That would give China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey a greater say in the IMF) would, “Enhance the participation and voice of low-income countries in the IMF. This will be the biggest reform to the governance of the International Monetary Fund for 60 years.”

Brown stressed the need for, “the urgency for the sake of the world economy of moving forward with the trade talks so that we can remove the risks of protectionism in the world economy and we are seized by the importance of reaching a trade deal as soon as possible.”