World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy believes the G20 leaders should get behind a Doha deal. Speaking to the 56th Session of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board last week, Lamy said, "What is outstanding in the negotiations is doable and a deal is within reach. But to get there we still need a translation of the current global political support into tangible negotiating moves."
Certainly, part of the problem has been the world economy. "We have worked to keep trade flowing, by mobilizing efforts into trade finance," Lamy said. "Second, we have helped Members fight against protectionist pressures by ensuring transparency in the measures taken by them to respond to the crisis. And thirdly, we have continued to mobilize international support towards developing countries to boost their productive and trade capacity through increased aid for trade."
Senior officials are now meeting in Geneva to design and start implementing a roadmap for filling the remaining gaps. The Director-General said he hopes that when the entire Membership meets, they will have a compass to guide the negotiations over the coming months, so that we can wrap them up in 2010.
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