The bad -- or more sobering -- news is that, despite the framework that has been agreed to by the member states laying down the guidelines for debate, many concerns of the LDC countries were left unaddressed, and there are many issues that still fall far short of resolution.

The deal that was struck by the member states promises to address the issues of farm subsidies in the developed world and the opening of industrial markets, both of which were issues of top priority for the developing countries. It was primarily the developed countries' refusal to countenance the elimination of their farm subsidies that led to the failure of the negotiations in Cancun last year, and the fact that key members such as the US and the EU have finally agreed, in principle at least, to address these concerns, is a marked improvement from the high-handed and hypocritical stance taken by them in Cancun.

There still remain some notable omissions from the perspective of Bangladesh and other LDCs. Preferential market access and the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, both issues of long-standing concern for Dhaka, were not the focus of the talks, and thus any agreement that is ultimately reached is unlikely to be in our best national interest. In addition to this, one must add the caveat that these are only two of the many thorny issues that remain unresolved, and that agreeing to a framework for talks is not the same thing as reaching agreement on the substance of the talks.

Nevertheless, the recent agreement is an encouraging first step. The simple fact of the matter is that it is no longer possible to live in a world without rules governing transnational trade, and that gridlock and discord benefit no one. The framework drawn up may not be ideal, but is better than no framework at all, and the tenor of the WTO talks since Cancun shows that the developed world has finally understood that it can no longer ride roughshod over the rest of us with impunity.