Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement after the conclusion of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Hong Kong:
"They welcome the conclusion of the WTO Ministerial, which by itself constitutes a success following the disappointment at Cancún.
There have been modest achievements on the substance of the Doha Round, especially agreement on an end-date for the use of export subsidies and equivalent measures in agriculture, and the structure of tariff and subsidy reduction formulae that will apply to agriculture and manufacturing trade—together with an ambitious timetable for settling the details of these formulae.
"They very much agree with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, that these achievements must now be built upon, by drawing on the political momentum coming out of Hong Kong to settle key disagreements during the first quarter of 2006.
If this can be achieved, a successful conclusion of the Round by the end of 2006 should be feasible.
"An ambitious agreement would boost the long-term growth potential of the world economy, in developed and developing countries alike.
And it would help keep the protectionists at bay and lessen incentives to negotiate bilateral trade agreements, which risk jeopardizing the non-discrimination principle at the heart of the multilateral system.
"Rodrigo de Rato also stress that they welcome the unprecedented attention given to developing country concerns in Hong Kong.
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