• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

New Delhi , June 25

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, will attend the World Trade Organisation's mini-ministerial meeting in Geneva from June 29 to July 2 .

The meeting, in which around 40 to 50 trade ministers of WTO member countries are expected to participate, would discuss the modalities for negotiations in case of agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA), a Government statement said.

Mr Nath will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that will include representatives from the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and Textiles , it said. The discussions will be based on the text of the modalities for negotiations in agriculture and NAMA, which was released by the WTO earlier this week, it added.

"While agriculture and NAMA are not the sole elements of the Doha agenda, these two areas are seen as the most crucial for breaking the current stalemate and moving the Doha Round forward. The meeting assumes special significance as, according to analysts, if the issues are not resolved at the forthcoming mini-ministerial, conclusion of the Doha Round (launched at Doha in Qatar in 2001) could get inordinately delayed," the statement said.

The Minister will also participate in ministerial meetings of the G-2- and G-33 on the sidelines of the mini ministerial on June 29, 2006. The G-20 is a coalition of developing countries in the agriculture negotiations, while the G-33 is an alliance of developing countries with defensive interests in agriculture. India is a member of both groups.

More Stories on : WTO

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Economy to grow at 8 pc: CII

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line