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November-december 2003 WTO Dr.
Supachai Panitchpakdi said the organization is alive and well. In
his keynote address of the second session of the Apec CEO Summit
2003, "The State of the World: What are the key
developments? What are the implications of the WTO Ministerial
in Cancun? What must business watch out for?", World Trade
Organization (WTO) Director-General Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi
said the organization is alive and well. The
former deputy prime minister of Thailand reminded participants
that the Uruguay Round, which everyone also expected to fail,
took nearly seven years to come to a consensus and that this
round is only in its second year and has another year before
agreements are required. He also reiterated that all members
stated their recommitment of the Doha Development Agenda. Dr.
Supachai said his biggest concern was member nations turning
more to bilateral and regional agreements and that these can
have a detrimental effect on multinational agendas. If these
groupings set their own rules and regulations, they can actually
raise conflicts between them and non-signatories. He
expanded on this issue by explaining how through former US
president Bill Clinton's vision to inaugurate the APEC forum in
1993 on Blake Island, the Pacific rim nations could come
together to discuss and then promote the Uruguay Round. Even
though a consensus was not reached, he felt the discussions were
productive and that there was no reason to go back to the
drawing board. Currently, his team in Geneva is working to
prepare for the next round of talks on December 15 between
representatives of WTO member nations. The
director-general also reminded participants that through the WTO
agreements concerning humanitarian, or public health issues,
such as giving access to medications for such epidemic illnesses
such as HIV/Aids, TB and malaria, had been achieved. He
said the breakdown of the Cancun meeting can be divided into
three or four areas, agriculture, manufacturing and the
Singapore Issues, trade facilitation and competition, investment
and competition policies, as well as cotton, which in the future
could be included under agriculture. In order to stop any
confusion, Dr.
Supachai clarified for all that the Singapore Issues get their
name from the meeting in 1996 where they were raised and not the
island state itself causing the conflict. In conclusion, the
director-general stated that for the Doha Mandate to succeed all
WTO member countries must recommit themselves. After this, they
must become more flexible and be ready to compromise. While
the Cancun statement was not perfect, it provides a framework
for the WTO to move forward and ultimately achieve its goals. In
a panel discussion that followed Dr. Supachai's speech moderated
by Michael Elliot, editor-at-large, Time Magazine, Michael
Ducker, executive vice-president international of Federal
Express, economist David Hale of Hale Advisors LLC and columnist
Yoichi Funabashi of Asahi Shimbun all agreed that the world and
WTO are facing a dangerous period as countries become much more
protectionist. All
three called for the support of globalization and the World
Trade Organization stating that by isolating nations, they can
become more suspicious, which can lead to even further divides. While
the US has lost 2.7 billion jobs during the Bush administration,
many do not realize that China has lost as many as 17 million
during the same period. Therefore, they very strongly supported
Dr. Supachai's closing statement that understanding and
flexibility is a must for the nations of the world and their
economies to unite. |
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