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China set to join World Trade Club
World trade ministers were set to approve China`s entry to their global club on Saturday as rich and poor countries got down to serious haggling over whether to launch a new round of global trade talks.
World trade ministers were set to approve China's entry to their global club on Saturday as rich and poor countries got down to serious haggling over whether to launch a new round of global trade talks.
China's entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was due to be formally approved around 8:50 am IST, crowning a 15-year drive by the world's most populous country to join the body and throwing open the doors to the world's largest potential market.
The 142 WTO members will unite in welcoming China to the organisation, setting aside for a moment their deep divisions over whether to launch a new round of trade liberalisation talks -- the central issue of the meeting in the gulf state of Qatar. WTO director-general Mike Moore said on Friday that the entry of China and Taiwan -- whose membership will be approved on Sunday-- was ''a major historic event''.
The WTO meeting is being held amid intense security following the September 11 attacks on US cities and US-led counter-strikes on Afghanistan.
To guard against possible attack, Qatar has thrown a cordon around the talks, and a US helicopter ship and two other vessels carrying 2,100 marines stand sentry in the sparkling waters off the capital Doha.
As serious negotiations began on Saturday, it became clear that rich countries such as the United States and the European Union still have a lot of work to do if they are to convince developing countries to agree to a new trade round.
Developing country opposition helped sink attempts to launch a round at the last WTO meeting in Seattle two years ago.
And while rich countries have been at pains to listen to poor countries' concerns and have made some concessions, developing countries say these do not go far enough.
They accuse rich countries of failing to fulfil all the pledges made in previous trade talks and want more time to implement earlier agreements themselves.
Kenyan Planning Minister Adhu Awiti said that, at present, Kenya was not ready to give the go-ahead to a new trade round.
''As it stands now, we would not be ready to go for a new set of negotiations when we are not satisfied with the explanation of why the old ones have not been implemented,'' he told reporters.
Bureau Report
The 142 WTO members will unite in welcoming China to the organisation, setting aside for a moment their deep divisions over whether to launch a new round of trade liberalisation talks -- the central issue of the meeting in the gulf state of Qatar. WTO director-general Mike Moore said on Friday that the entry of China and Taiwan -- whose membership will be approved on Sunday-- was ''a major historic event''.
The WTO meeting is being held amid intense security following the September 11 attacks on US cities and US-led counter-strikes on Afghanistan.
To guard against possible attack, Qatar has thrown a cordon around the talks, and a US helicopter ship and two other vessels carrying 2,100 marines stand sentry in the sparkling waters off the capital Doha.
As serious negotiations began on Saturday, it became clear that rich countries such as the United States and the European Union still have a lot of work to do if they are to convince developing countries to agree to a new trade round.
Developing country opposition helped sink attempts to launch a round at the last WTO meeting in Seattle two years ago.
And while rich countries have been at pains to listen to poor countries' concerns and have made some concessions, developing countries say these do not go far enough.
They accuse rich countries of failing to fulfil all the pledges made in previous trade talks and want more time to implement earlier agreements themselves.
Kenyan Planning Minister Adhu Awiti said that, at present, Kenya was not ready to give the go-ahead to a new trade round.
''As it stands now, we would not be ready to go for a new set of negotiations when we are not satisfied with the explanation of why the old ones have not been implemented,'' he told reporters.
Bureau Report