The Hindu Business Line : G-20 to stay united against pressure

TASKS AHEAD FOR G-20: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the Brazilian Minister for External Relations and International Trade, Mr Celso Amorim, and the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, at a meeting with Ministers of the G-20 alliance in the Capital on Friday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , March 18

THE Group of 20 countries from diverse geographical region meeting here for the first time to demonstrate the solidarity of the developing world have sent a clear signal that their unity of purpose and the level of ambitious Doha mandate that they have set themselves would not be diluted.

A cross-section of top brass to whom Business Line spoke on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting here said that agriculture holds the key for any forward momentum in all important areas of negotiations under the Doha Round of trade talks launched in 2001.

One of the architects of G-20 and the Brazilian Minister of External Relations and International Trade, Mr Celso Amorim, told this correspondent that "the thrust of the New Delhi meeting is positive in keeping the political mobilisation and the technical work so that we can enter this new phase and build on" in the run-up to the July, 2005 meeting in Geneva.

Asked whether the ambitious demand of asking developed countries to eliminate agricultural export subsidies in five years with a standstill now is feasible, Mr Amorim said, "Many things that were thought not feasible are becoming feasible. It all depends on our mobilisation, our unity and our confidence".

To a specific query as to G-20 formation prior to Cancun and its steadfast stance led to the failure of the Cancun Ministerial of the WTO in 2003, Mr Amorim said, "I don't think that the Cancun meeting was a failure. It was only in Cancun that G-20 appeared and did something that was extraordinary which was to change the dynamics of WTO negotiations and multilateral trade negotiations. In this respect, it was positive. We did not have final results but the results came later on in Geneva which was better than it could have been in Cancun".

To a question as to the sustainability of this newly-found unity in the face of pressures being brought to bear upon developing countries by redefining the very concept of developing world, Mr Amorim quipped: "Time will tell. But a lot depends on our mobilisation and our pragmatism".

The Minister of External Relations, Paraguay, Ms Leila Rachid de Cowles, said that G-20 has become G-21 now with Uruguay admitted as a new member. "We have drawn our roadmap to look to the Ministerial in Hong Kong in December 2005. All the member countries have diverse background but we are united in relation to a strategic issue like agriculture," she said, adding "Paraguay is basically an economy with agriculture as the mainstay and 80 per cent our exports is coming from rural areas".

She said that the developed countries were talking mainly issues related to them such as Singapore issues even as the "main work programme of the Doha relates to agriculture".

The Brazilian Ambassador to WTO, Mr Luiz Felipe Seixas Correa, said that the draft declaration of New Delhi to be adopted tomorrow is "a very analytical declaration as it tries to contribute positively to the negotiation but making it very clear what we consider to be the essential elements of this package". He said, "We will hopefully achieve here a level of understanding on what the Ministerial decisions in Hong Kong would look like". He said, "We are not stating any position that is outside the framework. We want to succeed and we want the level of ambition of the Doha mandate to be preserved and not success at any cost".

Mr Seixas said the major development of the Doha Round is agriculture and the Round exists because of agriculture and everything is linked to everything and the heart of everything lies in agriculture; if the negotiations on agriculture remains blocked, nothing will flow".

The Chinese Ambassador to WTO, Mr Sun Zhenyu, told Business Line that in G-20, India, Brazil and China share many common features and "we are very strong partners in WTO particularly in the field of defending the interests of developing countries on agriculture and other issues. We share a common position and frequently consult. We have unity in diversity and we can work together very well and will have a common position in WTO".

Asked about the experience of China as a new member in WTO since end-December 2001, he said, "The impact of entry into WTO is positive as China has seen both its exports and imports grew very rapidly". The important thing, he said, is that China has continued the opening up policy and unified trade policy, which are consistent with WTO and transparent.

This in turn, he said, created a good environment for attracting foreign investment.

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