World Growth: Doha Round Must Refocus and Insist Upon Liberalization in Developing World

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A report to be released next week
 finds that the best way to reduce poverty is to eliminate trade barriers in
 the developing world. "Make Trade Free: How the Doha Round Can Help Solve
 Poverty" argues that poor countries would stand to gain far more from
 liberalizing their own industries and domestic markets than from gaining
 greater access to markets in more developed countries.
     "Make Trade Free" is the project of a newly-formed NGO, World Growth, and
 includes a foreword from the former chairman of the World Trade Organization
 (WTO), Michael Moore. "The World Growth report is a provocative, brutal,
 refreshingly candid look at the state of global trading affairs," says Moore.
 "This should be read by all who have an interest in global growth."
     The WTO and the Doha Round have missed an opportunity to truly make a
 difference in the lives of those living in poverty, according to the paper's
 author, former Australian Ambassador to GATT, Alan Oxley. "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."
     "Everyone talks about farm subsidies in the E.U. and the U.S., but the
 fact is that trade barriers are much higher in the developing world than in
 the rich countries," said Oxley. "The WTO talks ought to focus on the biggest
 problem first, namely the high tariffs in Africa, Brazil, China, and India."
 
     Among the key recommendations and findings:
 
      *  WTO members should endorse universal liberalization -- charity trade
         does not help poor countries.
 
      *  Proposals irrelevant to the core business of the WTO should be taken
         off the table.
 
     If negotiations continue to form as they have since Cancun, no result is
 the best result.
     "Make Trade Free" will be 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.
 
     CONTACT:  Henrik Rasmussen of World Growth, +1-202-320-3965, or
 Rasmussen@worldgrowth.org.
 
 

SOURCE  World Growth