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Asian countries to benefit from global talks |
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July 30, 2000
SINGAPORE (AP) - Asian countries reluctant to embark on a new round of global trade negotiations can only benefit from liberalization, European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said Saturday. Southeast Asia, which is recovering from the 1997-1998 economic slump, needs more growth, more exports, more market access, Lamy told The Associated Press. Lamy, who was in Indonesia earlier this week, was visiting Singapore to build support for a new round of trade talks after the failure of December's World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. Many developing countries are reluctant to hold new multilateral trade talks, arguing that they have not received the benefits they expected from the last round, the Uruguay Round, which ended in 1993. Under the agreement concluding the Uruguay Round, nations committed themselves to a progressive removal of quotas on textiles over a 10-year period. Earlier this month, a group of 24 developing nations attacked the United States, the European Union and Canada for failing to open their markets to clothing and textiles, which are crucial sectors for poorer nations. Rich countries say they are meeting their obligation to lift the restrictions gradually. Lamy said issues like agriculture and textiles "should and could be addressed" during a new round. But, he said, poor nations should sit down and negotiate with rich countries to obtain increased market access and lower national subsidies in such sectors. In Singapore, Lamy met with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong. They discussed bilateral and multilateral trade, as well as specific issues such as information technology and electronic commerce. Lamy said the EU and Singapore had "converging views" on the need to hold a new round of global trade talks, "possibly this year." "We are eye-to-eye," he said. Both the EU and Singapore agreed that China should join the WTO this year or at the beginning of next year at the latest, Lamy said. During meetings with Indonesian officials earlier this week, Lamy addressed EU concerns over illegally-set forest fires meant to clear land for farming but +that spread haze over the region and illegal logging. Over the past four years, the EU has invested more than 100 million euros (dlrs 92.6 million) on reforestation in Indonesia, Lamy said. "We are pushing hard so that this money is not unduly spent. I know it's difficult (for the Indonesian government), but part of the answer is in their hands," he said. Lamy leaves Sunday. |