Hong Kong of China, the host of the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, has called on WTO members to do their utmost at the current meeting so that enough progress can be made to complete the final dash of 2006 deadline on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).

Speaking Wednesday at the plenary session of the WTO ministerial conference, which opened on Tuesday, HK's Permanent Secretary of Commerce, Industry and Technology Denise Yue said Hong Kong is a staunch supporter of the WTO and the rules-based multilateral trading system it represents.

"To us, free and open trade is not just an academically sound proposition, its welfare enhancing effect is borne out by fact, namely the phenomenal economic growth and social development of Hong Kong over the years," she said.

She noted that Hong Kong of China would like to see tangible progress on all fronts of negotiations in this ministerial conference, in agriculture, NAMA (non-agricultural market access), services, rules, development and other areas.

On agriculture, she said, not enough progress has been made. "I hope members will do their utmost in the negotiations this week to achieve more inroads."

Development is the other key to the success of the DDA. For DDA to live up to its name, the WTO membership must redouble its efforts in this area and concentrate on the needs and sensitivities of developing economies, including the least developed among them, the HK official said.

With regard to NAMA and services, she said, they concern essentially the reduction and elimination of market access barriers, the core business and competence of the WTO. "We support the reduction and elimination of all tariffs and other barriers to trade."

Yue said rules represent challenges of a different kind. They may be less visible than market access barriers but are of no less importance. They constitute the guarantee of the multilateral trading system in which international trade is conducted.

"So the continued improvement of rules matters much to the credible conclusion of the DDA and sustainability of the multilateral trading system," she added.

Yue urged members of the WTO to tip the balance in the right direction in the DDA negotiations by delivering a credible outcome in Hong Kong. "Hong Kong of China will do everything it can to encourage and facilitate this outcome," she said.

EU upholds duty, quota-free access for least developed countries

The European Union agrees to give the duty and quota-free market access to all the products from least developed countries, said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson Wednesday.

Delivering his speech at the plenary session of the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, Mandelson said EU's target at this conference is to establish the strongest possible platform to rapidly take forward and conclude negotiations of the Doha Round in 2006.

Mandelson said all the developed countries should commit to providing duty and quota-free access to the products from all least developed countries.

Those advanced developing countries in a position to do so should make the same commitment.

He said Europe has led on this and welcomes those who decide to do the same.

He said the EU is willing to keep the growth, welfare and justice in the international trading system and to spread the benefits of trade for all developing countries, including the neediest ones.

He said the EU also agrees to a substantial new package of Aid for Trade to help build the capacity to trade that must go with market opening.

The EU will try to make the conference a successful one to keep the Doha Round moving forward, he said.

Small, vulnerable economies hope to benefit from Doha Round talks

A number of small and vulnerable economies on Wednesday urged members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to pay more attention to their interests in the Doha Round trade talks.

The meeting "must specifically chart the way for the small and vulnerable economies in the Doha negotiations and in the Work Program," they said in a news release on the sidelines of the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference.

The program, adopted at the Doha meeting in the Qatari capital in 2001, promises to facilitate a "fuller integration" of small and vulnerable economies in the multilateral trading system.

The minimum share of each of the economies in the world has made it difficult for them to benefit from global trade in "an equitable and sustainable manner," the statement said.

So they hoped the Hong Kong meeting could reaffirm WTO's commitment to ensure the realization of the work program, it added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)