India hopeful of WTO breakthrough before Hong Kong summit
Afp, Vientiane
Indian delegates at a 10-nation Asean conference here said Friday they were hopeful of a breakthrough in global trade talks before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meets in Hong Kong in December. Delegate spokesman S.N. Melon said WTO talks were at an advanced stage with negotiators plotting a roadmap which could deliver success at the summit. "The general view is for some kind of breakthrough, hopefully by next month or mid-November," he told journalists. The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has pledged its support for the implementation of the Doha round which ran into a deep impasse at the WTO meeting held in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun in 2003. This was mainly due to differences over farm trade and market access for services, and negotiators have been struggling since to get the negotiations back on track in time for a broad agreement in Hong Kong. Pushing for the talks in Hong Kong to succeed, the United States, European Union and a handful of other key players, including Australia, will meet in October in Switzerland to try to keep the talks going.
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