Doha Round Adrift, Must Refocus on Liberalization in Developing World

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The best way to reduce poverty is to
 eliminate trade barriers in the developing world, according to a report
 released today. "Make Trade Free: How the Doha Round Can Help Solve Poverty"
 claims the poor would benefit far more if their governments liberalized their
 own industries than if rich countries ended regressive agricultural subsidies.
     "The Doha Round has become sidetracked by the agricultural issue. Trade
 barriers are much higher in the developing world than in the rich countries
 and the poor have more to gain from seeing those razed in Hong Kong," said the
 paper's author, former Australian Ambassador to GATT, Alan Oxley, referring to
 the upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial in Hong Kong.
     "Make Trade Free" is the project of a newly-formed NGO, World Growth, and
 includes a foreword from former WTO chairman, Michael Moore: "Special and
 differential treatment for developing countries is useful ... but if it
 becomes an opt-out clause then we have problems. A two-speed WTO could
 postpone important domestic reforms for too long, doing no one any favors."
     The WTO and the Doha Round has missed an opportunity to truly make a
 difference in the lives of those living in poverty, according to the report.
 "By focusing too much on what poor countries can gain if they win access into
 high-tech markets like the E.U. and U.S., the WTO has lost control of the
 globalization debate," Oxley writes.
     "Make Trade Free" is the first publication from World Growth, founded by
 Oxley and Henrik Rasmussen, the son of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh
 Rasmussen. The organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., will
 officially launch in December during the WTO ministerial in Hong Kong.
 
     World Growth was founded this year to explore how globalization and free
 trade deliver growth and reduce poverty. Oxley, 58, will serve as Chairman of
 World Growth. He was Australia's Ambassador to GATT from 1985 to 1989 and is
 now in business in Melbourne. Rasmussen, 26, will serve as President of World
 Growth. An immigrant to the United States, he is in business in Washington
 D.C.
 
 

SOURCE  World Growth