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Mr. Moore, who addressed in Genoa Friday the G-8 heads of state and
government along with leaders from several developing countries and
chiefs of other international organizations, said he was saddened by
the violence that gripped Genoa during the summit. But he said this
should not overshadow the efforts made by governments of the eight
nations. He said the G-8 Communique was unprecedented in its devotion
to addressing the problems of the world's poorest nations.
“These
Democratically-elected leaders have made tackling poverty and
facilitating development in poor countries the centrepiece of their
efforts this past weekend. These are precisely the goals of so many of
those who protest against the G-8 and other international
organizations,” Mr. Moore said.
The
Director-General also strongly supported G-8 pledges of $1.3 billion
in the struggle against AIDS. He said he agreed with the leaders'
assessment that the WTO's agreement on Trade-related Intellectual
Property (TRIPs) provides the necessary flexibility to ensure that
developing countries have access to the essential medicines needed to
combat AIDS and other diseases.
The G-8
pledged to launch a new round of global trade negotiations in November
at the WTO's Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar. Trade negotiations
aimed at scaling back barriers to imports from developing countries,
particularly the Least Developed Countries, are critical to continuing
economic growth and poverty reduction, they said.
Mr. Moore has
long pushed for the elimination of all barriers to imports from LDCs.
He has been supportive of the efforts taken by G-8 governments to open
their markets to the poorest. But he said, absent a broad-based set of
trade liberalization negotiations, the issues of greatest concern to
poor countries will not be adequately addressed.
“Absent a
round, there is a risk that trade will evolve on a regional or
bilateral basis. While regionalism has contributed positively to the
multilateral system in the past, it cannot be a substitute for it.
Many poor countries will find themselves outside such agreements and
unable to promote their interests as effectively as in the WTO,” he
said.
When
addressing the leaders in Genoa, Mr. Moore called on them to work
towards overcoming those difficult remaining issues that separate them
so that they may carry out their pledge of successfully launching a
round in Doha. Mr. Moore said he was pleased the leaders agreed to
take a personal interest in the process.
“Looking
back at previous G-8 Communiqués one is struck by the fact that Genoa
marks a turning-point in the commitment of leaders to making trade a
critical element in the war on poverty. Together with debt relief,
good governance, adequate levels of finance to assist capacity
building and sound macroeconomic policies, trade is a vital element in
the cocktail of development assistance,” Mr. Moore said. “I
welcome and support G-8 efforts in this regard and look forward to
working with them to build support for a balanced round of
negotiations that offers promise and opportunity for citizens of all
nations.”
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