Annan appeals to rich countries to break trade deadlock
25 Apr '06
3 min read
United Nations announces the addressing senior economic officials from across the world gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today spoke out in favour of “genuine market access opportunities” for developing countries and a rapid termination of trade-distorting subsidies for agriculture in the developed States.
Annan told a key meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that rich countries should take “bold measures” to facilitate a successful conclusion of the currently stalled Doha trade talks.
Negotiators have called for new progress by the end of this month on what is known as “the development round” of trade agreements.
Finance and development ministers and high-level officials of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, along with representatives of the 54-member Economic and Social Council, heard the Secretary-General's remarks.
The guests, hosted by ECOSOC, came to New York directly from Washington, DC, where they had participated over the past weekend in the Bretton Woods Spring meeting.
Consultations between ECOSOC and the main finance and trade institutions covered a range of issues, including national strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); debt relief; and the development efforts and finance needs of middle-income developing countries.
Today's meeting is aimed at advancing previous international agreements, including the Outcome Document adopted by national leaders attending the 2005 World Summit.
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