Mbeki upbeat about Doha future

Mbeki said world leaders must give their trade negotiators more flexibility if Doha is to be saved

President Thabo Mbeki said world leaders must give their trade negotiators more flexibility if the Doha development round is to be saved. Mbeki spoke to the SABC in Davos where an informal meeting of trade ministers recommitted themselves to a speedy and full scale resumption of the round.

As expected, the trade ministers from around the world did little more than recommit themselves to getting Doha back on track. Unless negotiators can put better offers on the table regarding agricultural tariffs and subsidies, Doha has little chance of being concluded.

Doha viewed by some as mere talk shop
Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organisation chief, said he had been asked to get talks up and running again and it must happen within the next few months.

The absence of a time table fuelled critisism that nothing much gets done at Davos. However, Mbeki disagrees.

It has been a long week of talks with climate change, the Middle East, the role of emerging economies and Africa topping the agenda - an agenda that will be carried forward to other global meetings later in the year.