L.LINKEVIČIUS WTO NEGOTIATIONS AGENDA MUST HAVE BUSINESS NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF CITIZENS AT ITS CORE
During the discussion on the Doha Development Agenda that began at the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius stressed that the Trade Facilitation Agreement would benefit all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), particularly the poorest, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises around the world.
“Reaching an agreement would prove that the WTO remains an effective forum for trade negotiations. The agenda of the negotiations should reflect changes in global economy: the role of emerging economies and their respectively growing responsibility for the well-being of the multilateral trading system and its members,” L.Linkevičius said at the plenary session on 4 December.
According to the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, the involvement of these countries would allow resuming the negotiations on such main areas as market access for the industrial goods, agriculture and services trade.
“The organisation has to update its agenda of the negotiations taking into account business needs and interests of citizens,” the head of the Lithuanian diplomacy said.
L.Linkevičius also highlighted that development issues must remain among the organization’s priorities, but the best way to boost economic growth was creating an open and predictable trading environment rather than distorting WTO rules or adopting trade-restrictive measures.
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister congratulated Yemen on its accession to the World Trade Organization. At the Conference, one of the world’s poorest countries became the 160th member of the WTO.
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