| Author |
Date
and source |
Quotes |
|
|
|
|
Dr. Razeen Sally, Director of Trade Policy, Commonwealth Business
Council, Malaysia |
30 July 2003 New Straits Times |
In WTO, every member, even the weakest developing country, has one
vote. With no weighted voting, members have more power of
influence than they would have had in a bilateral negotiation with
a much stronger power. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
14 July 2003 Speech to the Second Ordinary Session of the Assembly
of Heads of Government of the African Union Commission |
If the Doha Development Agenda is to stand up to its development
aspirations, it must support the development aspirations of the
African continent. And if the Doha Development Agenda is to
succeed, it needs support at the highest political level from all
leaders around the world. |
|
KM Chandrasekhar, Indian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to
the WTO |
17 May 2003 The Financial Express |
Q. Are the Doha negotiations actually taking the shape of a
development round?
A. I have always called it a work programme and never a
development round. We can only find out in the end whether
it actually turns out to be a development round. It will all
depend on whether there is a positive change in favour of
developing countries. If it is only going to be the same
thing coming in the same form, it will be just like any other
round that has happened till now. Merely putting the word
development 70 times in the text does not make it one. |
|
Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the IMF |
13 May 2003 Speech to the WTO General Council Meeting on Coherence,
Geneva |
The Doha Declaration is a powerful signal of the international
community's determination to tackle poverty decisively, and to
ensure that the beneifts of globalization are more widely spread.
The importance of trade for poverty reduction has been repeatedly
emphasized since then, in Monterrey, in Johannesburg, and in the
most recent communiqué of the IMFC. Trade is the key
opportunity for developing countries to help themselves, by
generating growth and reducing dependence on aid over time.
But tremendous challenges remain. For many countries, and
for their poor, the global marketplace remains replete with
obstacles. Our task must be to remove these obstacles and
provide the opportunity for all countries to reap fully the
benefits of g lobalization. |
|
The National Foreign Trade Council of the US, the Confederation of
British Industry and the Federation of German Industries in a joint
letter to Richard Zoellick and Pascal Lamy |
13 May 2003 Dow Jones Newswires |
The stakes have never been higher. They involve the future
relevance and credibility of the WTO as a renewed engine of global
economic growth and prosperity, and as an institution to promote
constructive economic engagement through open trade rules and
principles. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
9 May 2003 Wall Street Journal |
The time has come for governments to set aside the posturing that
for years has characterized the agriculture and implementation
negotiations and commence with real negotiations. Senior
officials in capitals and their Geneva-based negotiators must take
the hard decisions that will make compromise possible. |
|
Franz Fischler, European Union Agriculture Commissioner |
8 February 2003 Farming Life, Belfast |
The EU is fully committed to ensuring the success of the Doha
Development Round. We are ambitious, pragmatic and we take
full account of the interests of a vital group of countries in the
negotiations the developing countries. Many people talk of
the need for trade liberalization to help developing countries,
but do little more than talk about it. The time has now come
for them to do something about it.” |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
22 April 2003 WTO Press Release No.337 |
These trade figures reflect the growing economic and political
uncertainty in the world today. This uncertainty is
detrimental to economic growth and development and can give rise
to greater instability across the globe. Governments must
send a signal that they are prepared to address this problem.
One very important contribution to this effort would be to
accelerate work on the negotiations in the Doha Development
Agenda. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
13 April 2003 Agence France Presse |
There is no reason to begin doubting the possibility of meeting
the target date of end-2004 for finishing the negotiations.
No reason, that is, unless governments decide that their political
will to complete the exercise is no longer there. And that,
surely, would send a very damaging signal around the world -
damaging to the prospects for economic recovery and damaging too
for the process of multilateral cooperation in general. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
11 April 2003 Inside US Trade |
I hope most sincerely coming out of Cancùn that we would have a
clear-cut, specific roadmap after Cancùn with the full
determination that we will meet the deadline of 2004.
Participants should not judge whether that roadmap is a success or
failure since it is just a work plan. |
|
James Wolfensohn, President. World Bank |
7 April 2003 Reuters |
The Doha Round is more important to most of the developing
countries than is the Iraq war. |
|
Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General, WTO |
2 April 2003 International Herald Tribune |
We can afford to give negotiators a bit more time, but we cannot
wait forever. Failure to reach agreement on the Doha
negotiations by the 2005 deadline would raise fears that
governments are incapable of taking the decisions needed to
address the global economic slowdown and to help alleviate poverty
in the developing world. All of this would send a very bad
signal to a very nervous world. |
|
Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General, WTO |
April 2003 The Banker |
A successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda would
represent a substantial boost to the multilateral trading system
at a time of growing economic uncertainty. It would
reinforce the supremacy of the global system at a time when many
governments and corporations find regional and bilateral trading
arrangements an attractive alternative to multilateralism.
Such deals can often be beneficial to the parties involved and can
complement the international trading system. But they cannot
replace it. |
|
Franz Fischler, European Union Agriculture Commissioner |
4 February 2003 |
If we overload the agenda in Cancun and even more if we are not
able to show to the world that we are making the necessary
progress in the agricultural sector, then there is a high risk
that the whole process will be stuck or even blocked. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
26 November 2002 |
John Maynard Keynes once observed that it is easy enough to
identify a crisis when it is upon us. The difficult thing was to
put in place policies that can head off a crisis before it happens
and when conditions appeared calm. Are we entering the calm before
the storm? No one can know. What is certain is that the failure to
make progress in the WTO in the coming months will leave the world
a more insecure and uncertain place. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
25 November 2002
Address to the World Food and Farming Congress |
There is a lot at stake in the negotiations on agriculture, and a
lot of benefits that could flow from reform in this sector,
particularly, but of course, not only for developing countries.
Dismantling trade barriers and trade-distorting subsidies will
help boost agricultural production in countries where food can be
produced most efficiently and in a sustainable way, including in
many developing countries where problems of food security are
endemic. |
|
Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi |
7 November 2002 |
“We have to find some way to create more predictability, and I see
progress for the round is the final contribution to a larger
predictability in our economic world”. |
| British
Prime Minister, Tony Blair |
15
November 2001
Reuters
|
“This is a huge success for the international community.
The countries of the world, rich and poor, have ironed out
their differences to launch a trade round that will make all of us
more prosperous”. |
| Morocco's
Ambassador to the WTO, Nacer Benjalloun |
15
November 2001
Reuters
|
“It amounts to a very ambitious round -- there is plenty in
it for developing countries, even on the issues like investment
and competition that some of us were resisting”. |
| US
President, George Bush |
14
November 2001
Agence France Presse
|
“This bold declaration of hope by the World Trade
Organization (WTO) has the potential to expand prosperity and
development throughout the world and revitalize the global
economy...“By promoting open trade, we expand export markets
and create high-paying jobs for American workers and farmers,
while providing more choices and lower prices for goods and
services for American families” |
| US Trade Representative,
Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick |
14
November 2001
Agence France Presse
|
Today the members of the WTO have sent a powerful signal to the
world. We have removed the stain of Seattle. We will continue to
cooperate successfully. We will continue to press for open
markets. We will continue to build a global trading system based
on common rules”. |
| World
Bank |
October
2001
World Bank report
Global Economic
Prospects and the Developing Countries 2002
|
“Against this uncertain backdrop, world
leaders have launched an intense discussion about
whether to begin a new round of global trade
negotiations at the ministerial meeting of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) in November 2001.
A round would offer an opportunity to renew
progress on multilateral rules that open
markets and expand trade. A reduction in
world barriers to trade could accelerate growth,
provide stimulus to new forms of productivity enhancing
specialization, and lead to a more rapid
pace of job creation and poverty reduction
around the world” |
| WTO
Director-General, Mike Moore |
October
2001
Director-General's letter to Journalists
Doha
Briefing notes
|
“Apart from the need to strengthen the system
and the organization, there is the obvious need to send signals of
confidence to a world in which the largest economies all face the
prospect of recession. The last time that the European Union,
Japan and the United States were all in recession together was in
1975. The economic vitality of these three members matters a great
deal and not just to those who live there. When the big economies
contract it means fewer exports from the developing world and less
foreign direct investment to poor countries. This will mean fewer
jobs in developing countries and lower prospects of raising living
standards. Agreeing to launch an ambitious
work programme in Doha will not have immediate consequences for
the global economy. But it will send a very strong signal that the
WTO member governments are aware of the need for action on issues
that are of great importance to our citizens”. |
| Guy
de Jonquières |
22
October 2001
Finantial Times
|
“Although a new trade liberalisation drive could add several
hundred billion dollars to world output by removing market
barriers, it would take several years to conclude and longer still
to deliver tangible benefits. Right now, however, launching one is
increasingly considered essential for symbolic and psychological
reasons as much as for economic ones. Doing so would send a
powerful political signal of countries' determination to make
common cause in the face of adversity”. |
| APEC
Economic Leaders Declaration |
21
October 2001
APEC Economic Leaders Declaration,
Shanghai, China
|
“5. Ministers reaffirmed the strong
commitment to launch the WTO new round of multilateral trade
negotiations in 2001. Given the global economic slowdown,
Ministers agreed on the critical importance and urgency of
successfully launching the round at the Fourth WTO Ministerial
Conference to reenergize the global trading system.
6. Ministers called on parties concerned to demonstrate
strong political will and flexibility in agreeing on a balanced
and sufficiently broad-based agenda to launch the new round, which
should include further trade liberalization and the strengthening
of WTO rules and reflect the interests and concerns of all members
especially those of the developing ones, address the challenges in
the 21st century and support the goal of sustainable development.
Ministers urged that the new round focus on trade-related issues,
including existing WTO rules and not duplicate the work of other
international organizations. They further agreed that internal
transparency within WTO will facilitate the participation of all
members.
7.
Ministers reaffirmed that the concerns of developing economies
should be addressed through the effective implementation of
special and differential treatment and ongoing effort for capacity
building and technical assistance so as to facilitate their full
participation in the WTO”.Link to the APEC
Secretariat |
| Director
of the Center for International Development, Harvard University,
Jeffrey Sachs |
3
October 2001
Taipei Times
|
“A new trade round should be launched at the WTO Ministerial
Meeting in November, signaling the intention of all members to
persevere on the path of free trade. It is time for the rich
countries to respect the wishes of the poor in getting such a
trade round off the ground. This requires immediate and proactive
steps to ensure developing-country exporters improved access to
rich-country markets (especially for apparel and agriculture
exports) and fairer rules regarding intellectual property
rights”. |
| Martin
Wolf |
3
October 2001
Finantial Times
|
“A start needs to be made with agreements on a focused
liberalising agenda for a new round of multilateral trade
negotiations at the Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organisation at Doha next month. International economic
integration need not end. We have, as always, a choice. If we make
the wrong one, we shall accept a terrible and unnecessary defeat
at the hands of the enemies of any form of civilised world order”. |
| European
Union Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy |
1
October 2001
Agence France Press
|
“We, the developed countries, must do much
more to foster economic growth in the developing world, to create
a more stable and development-oriented set of international trade
rules as the basis for our trading relations, and in so doing,
help to combat poverty, inequality and exclusion...There is only
one way to achieve this: by launching a new trade round aimed at
tackling all the issues related to development through trade,
strengthening of the common market rules and improving of mutual
market access”. |
|
Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa |
1
October 2001
Agence France Press
|
“What is needed is not to rush into a new
round, but assisting poor nations to build up a capacity that will
make them participate effectively in the global trading system, as
earlier pledged by developed nations...We do not see any logic for
the urgency being placed on fresh talks by developed countries”.
|
|
European Union Commission President, Romano
Prodi |
26
September 2001
Associated Press |
“We must have a strong round in Qatar. We
don't want to delay anything”. |
|
European Union Farm Commissioner, Franz Fischler |
26
september 2001
Reuters |
“I believe that being confronted with such
horrendous terrorist attacks, we have to show the world more than
ever that we are able to solve our disputes at the negotiating
table”. |
|
Dutch Prime Minister, Wim Kok |
26
September 2001
Associated Press |
“Since Sept. 11 a successful round is more
important than ever before”. |
|
Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan |
20
September 2001
The condition of the financial markets , before
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate |
“The foundations
of our free society remain sound, and I am confident that we will
recover and prosper as we have in the past. As a consequence of
the spontaneous and almost universal support
that we received from around the world, an agreement on a new
round of multilateral trade negotiations now
seems more feasible. Such an outcome would lead to a stronger
global market system. A successful round
would not only significantly enhance world economic growth but
also answer terrorism with a firm reaffirmation of our commitment
to open and free societies”. Link to the full Testimony
of Chairman Alan Greenspan (Word
Document, 37 KB) |
|
Ambassador
John M. Weekes
|
10
September 2001
Statement from the Gotemba Meeting
(meeting hosted by the Japanese Government, with trade
officials from several countries) |
“At the core of implementation problem is
the lack of resources going into trade-related capacity building.
The importance of the issue was recognized at the Genoa Economic
Summit, but there is no public sign of new resources being
generated to support technical and financial assistance to
developing countries, enabling them to fulfill their commitments
in the WTO system.
The ministers meeting in Doha should instruct the General Council
to prepare a specific package of assistance for capacity building
within six months. This would require coordinated action by
governments, the World Bank, the regional development banks and
other financial institutions”.
Link to the Chairman's
Statement
Link to the Press
Review |
| Secretary
General of the ICC, Maria Livanos Cattaui |
6
September 2001
ICC press release. |
“The
question member governments of the World Trade Organization should
be asking during the countdown to the WTO's November ministerial
meeting in Doha is: “Do you sincerely want to live in a more
prosperous world?” The
answer of course is: “Yes - as long as my country gets a
satisfactory slice of the benefits”. The inference is that
any new trade liberalization negotiations, whether or not
dignified with the name of a “trade round”, must offer
something for everyone. The negotiations must be in a spirit of
give and take”. |
| Former
WTO Director-General, Peter Sutherland |
4
September 2001
London Financial Times |
“Endless soothing words about a “development round”, have
no credibility if the promoters cannot demonstrate good faith up
front; governments in poor nations can recognise empty political
spin”. |
| Senior
lecturer in International Political Economy at the London School
of Economics, Razeen Sally |
4
September 2001
The Business Times |
“Dr
Sally said that there are good reasons to launch a new round of
trade talks at the Doha meeting. A new round would advance trade
liberalisation, and enable the multilateral trading system to keep
pace with fast-proliferating regional trade arrangements. However,
he said “having no new Round would be preferable to having a new
Round”. |
| European
Union Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy |
3
September 2001
Speech by Pascal Lamy, at Handelskammer Hamburg |
“Just look at the economic benefits that would derive from further
trade liberalisation. A study by European Commission economists
showed that if we cut trade protection by 50% across the board,
the annual welfare gain for the world as a whole could amount to
nearly $400 billion. This represents an annual increase in global
welfare of between up to 1.4%, which is roughly equivalent to
adding an economy the size of Korea or the Netherlands to the
world each year. In the current economic climate, such a boost to
economic growth would be more than welcome”. |
| Spokesman
for the European Union Trade Commissioner, Anthony Gooch |
3
September 2001
Dow Jones International News Service |
“There
is no question and there never has been any questions that
agriculture is on the negociation paper”. |
| Presidente
de Costa Rica, Miguel Angel Rodríguez |
27
August 2001
El Universal |
“Vamos a conversar sobre la posibilidad de lanzar una nueva ronda
de negociaciones. Costa Rica apoya la ronda. Creo que es una
oportunidad para que países pequeños puedan dialogar con los
grandes y puedan hacer valer sus intereses”. |
| Viceministro
de Economia de El Salvador |
27
August 2001
El Salvador |
“Si queremos hablar de una ronda más amplia, tenemos que tratar
estos temas (eliminar subsidios), pero nosotros no tenemos esa
seguridad”. |
| Negociador
del Sector Privado de Guatemala, Enrique Lacs |
17
August
2001
El Salvador
|
“No puede haber una nueva sesión negociadora en la OMC, mientras las
naciones desarrolladas no abran sus mercados a los productos
agrícolas (de las menos desarrolladas)”. |
| WTO Director-General, Mike Moore |
30 July
2001
Statement
to the General Council
|
“Failure
to reach consensus on a forward work programme that would advance
the objectives of the multilateral trading system, particularly in
the light of the earlier failure at Seattle, would lead many to
question the value of the WTO as a forum for negotiation. It would
certainly condemn us to a long period of irrelevance, because it
will not be any easier next year, or the year after”. |
| Secretary
General of the ICC, Maria Livanos Cattaui |
27
July 2001,
ICC press releases.
|
“Power relationships in trade diplomacy
have changed. Almost three out of four of the 141 members of the
World Trade Organization are from the developing world. They want
to be sure that they get a square deal - something most are
convinced that the previous Uruguay Round did not give them. They
are resolved to be more assertive than in the past in pursuit of
their interests, and who can blame them? If
the developing countries are to sign on to new multilateral trade
negotiations, they will do so only if they can be confident of
gaining more generous access to the markets of the industrialised
countries, especially for products in which they have a
competitive advantage, like agricultural products and textiles.
And they will expect help in implementing undertakings they made
under the previous Uruguay Round”.
|
| US
Secretary of State, Colin Powell |
26
July 2001
Agence France Press
|
“In
Doha, we can launch a new round of trade negotiations that will
help all countries, especially developing countries, to expand
their economies…A
dynamic, growing global economy is the ultimate poverty reduction
strategy…Developing
countries can be among the big winners if there is a
market-opening round”. |
| Kobsak
Chutikul |
25
July 2001
Bangkok Post
|
“A study by the World Bank estimates that barriers to manufacturing
exports make up around 70% of the total export barriers faced by
developing countries and that three-quarters of the gains from
further manufacturing liberalisation would go to developing
countries. Another study by the University of Michigan found that
cutting barriers to trade in agriculture, services and
manufactured goods would boost the world economy by $613 billion
(28 trillion baht)”. |
| Tanzanian
Trade Minister, Idi Simba |
22
July 2001
Agence France Press
|
“The
fourth WTO ministerial is, therefore, another opportunity for the
international community to demonstrate its commitment to long-term
welfare of the LDCs”. |
| European
Union
Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy and US Trade Representative,
Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick |
17
July 2001
The Washington Post online
|
“Developing
countries cannot expect to fare as well as the United States and
the EU in a system of unbridled bilateralism. They would do much
better under a multilateral trade round. Indeed, a new round is
perhaps one of the most useful contributions we could make to the
alleviation of global poverty, providing it is really a round for
both growth and development…The case for launching a new round is clear. If we get the other
policies right, open trade should lead to better jobs, the spread
of ideas and investment and to open, more confident societies. But
although we like to stress the upside of globalization, we need to
address the worldwide fears and anxieties that accompany it particularly when the economic slowdown means added strain on
employers, workers and families everywhere…We recognize that a
number of developing countries have real concerns about their
ability to implement previous trade agreements. We will continue
to work with them and with the WTO leadership to assist this
process”. |
| WTO
Director-General, Mike Moore |
14
July 2001
Reuters
|
“In
Seattle we had differences in many areas. The transatlantic
differences were just as strong as those between the countries
from the North and South… The ministers who are
travelling to Qatar should not have to negotiate over so many
different points again…We must reduce the
differences of opinion before we go to a conference”. |
| President
of World Vision International, Dean Hirsch |
13 July 2001
Deccan Herald
|
“I think some things need to happen first (such as) there should be a
comprehensive review of the Uruguay Round's impacts on the poor
before launching a new round….the concerns of developing
countries over the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements
should be addressed, and some of the new agreements, especially
TRIPS, need to be reviewed, and developing countries should not be
expected to agree to a new round before their concerns to the last
one have been addressed”. |
| New
Zealand's Trade Negotiations Minister, Jim Sutton |
12
July 2001
Dow Jones International News Service
|
“Export
subsidies deny countries such as India and New Zealand the chance
to compete on a level playing field for agricultural exports. A
new WTO round presents us with an opportunity to level the field
somewhat “ he said ”. We should work together at the WTO
in Geneva to realize these common goals”. |
| New
Zealand's Trade Negotiations Minister, Jim Sutton . |
6
July 2001
Dow
Jones International News Service
|
“I
have to say the consequences of not getting it (New Round) are
pretty unpleasant for countries like New Zealand. Many developing
countries have 80% of their workforce engaged in agriculture food
production . Excluding their products from international trade,
denying them the opportunity to increase their productivity by
specializing in the things they are best at, is (what is at
stake)”. |
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