The Financial Times
February 18, 2005
Doha is the best hope for trade liberalization
Sir, Martin Wolf notes, accurately, that there is prejudice among some campaigners against trade liberalisation and privatisation ("We must find the will and the means to end poverty", February 16).
I hope they will be persuaded by his sensible words: that it is important for poor countries "to avoid the waste inherent in high and variable protection against imports, inefficient state monopolies and macroeconomic instability".
However, Mr Wolf does not mention the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations, begun in 2001. The Doha round remains the world's best hope for a real move forward in trade liberalisation and for making a tangible contribution to fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals. At the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum last month, a group of trade ministers made a brave effort to advance the talks. Their informal meeting was little noticed, but this may turn out to have been the most important event at Davos.
Time is running out for a successful conclusion of the Doha round. WTO members must redouble their efforts between now and the end of the year to ensure that trade ministers can lock in real progress at the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December. To paraphrase Mr Wolf, what we must do is our best to make the Doha round a success.
Maria Livanos Cattaui
Secretary General
International Chamber of Commerce
75008 Paris, France
