Cancun, Sept 15: World Trade Organisation Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi has expressed disappointment over the collapse of the Cancun conference, but vowed trade liberalisation talks would not be derailed. "I have to admit I'm quite disappointed with the way we have concluded this meeting," Supachai said. But he insisted progress was made on several issues during the five days and nights of hard bargaining, and said he would continue working with what has been achieved upon his return to the WTO headquarters in Geneva, where he said "We will try to reconstruct the process." "The task has become more complicated but I don't think we are daunted by this complication," he said.

"We need to be flexible and really give and take, Supachai said, adding that "we just cannot allow this round to be derailed," he told a news conference.
New Zealand also termed the collapse of world trade talks as disappointing but not the end of the global trading system, nor of efforts to reform it.

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"Although there was still some way to go, the agriculture part of the draft text looked as though it would have gone a long way towards the ambitious outcome that New Zealand farmers were hoping for.

"Unfortunately, other issues proved too much for the membership at this time," an a news agency report from Wellington quoted trade negotiations minister Jim Sutton as saying.

Meanwhile, Australia today said the current round of world trade talks could collapse following the failure of negotitations in Cancun.

Bureau Report