G20 summit could give Doha talks a lift -WTO's Lamy

Published 09/22/2010, 04:49 PM
Updated 09/22/2010, 04:52 PM

* Concluding trade talks by 2011 'technically doable'-Lamy

* More work needed to reach right balance of concessions

* G20 leaders to meet in Seoul in November

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - World leaders could give the nine-year-old Doha round of world trade talks a much-needed boost when they meet in November, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.

Negotiators now have "a very clear view of where the remaining bridges have to be (built between countries in the talks). This clear view was not there last year," Lamy said at the Global Services Summit, which brought together industry groups and trade officials around the world.

But to close the remaining gaps requires "a complex chemistry of technical progress and the necessary political signals" from world leaders and trade ministers, Lamy said.

"At this stage, this is technically doable. But whether and when the chemistry will unfold I'm not sure," he said, when asked if he thought the negotiations could be concluded before the 10th anniversary of their launch in December 2011.

Lamy said he hoped negotiators in Geneva would be able to report progress in the talks covering agriculture, manufacturing and services by the end of the October.

That would set the stage for U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 countries meeting in Seoul to give additional momentum to the talks, he said.

Earlier, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the group the United States remained committed to the Doha round's overriding goal of opening markets to help the world's poorest country prosper from trade.

He also repeated the U.S. demand that big developing countries like China, India and Brazil, which have benefited from increased exports over the past decade, make better offers to open their own markets to more foreign trade.

"I want to be clear. In order for the Doha round to move forward, the world's big emerging economies must make their just contributions," Kirk said.

In the services area, which includes a broad range of sectors ranging from telecommunications to financial service, the U.S. goal is to lock in existing liberalization and to gain new overseas opportunities for its companies, Kirk said.

The United States has been under pressure in the negotiations to offer deeper farm subsidy cuts than it has made so far. But without major new export opportunities for U.S. farm, manufacturing and services companies, trade experts say it would be difficult for Obama to persuade Congress to approve a Doha round deal.

Lamy told the services group that he had no problem with the United States making steep demands in the talks.

But he noted "this is a negotiations, and in a negotiation you get roughly what you pay for," Lamy said.

So any country demanding more from others must also be willing to dig deep into its own pockets, he said.

While a deal is achievable in the coming year, more work is needed to reach the right balance of concessions among all the members of the WTO, he said. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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