Implementation of WTO Doha decisions to solve many issues: Tofail

FT ONLINE

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said many issues in the world trade would be settled after the implementation of the decisions taken in WTO meeting in Doha.

"Full implementation of the decisions taken at the ministerial conference in Doha is needed to make the World Trade Organization (WTO) effective," opined the minister.

He was addressing the opening ceremony of the Informal WTO Ministerial Meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi, a ministry press release said on Tuesday.

Commerce ministers and representatives of 53 countries including EU, the USA, the UK, China, Japan, Canada, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam presented their opinion with Indian commerce minister Suresh Prabhu in the chair.

"Before moving for any new decision, implementation of previous decisions is needed," said Tofail, adding decisions of Hong Kong, Bali and Nairobi conferences were also important.

He noted members of the least developed countries (LDCs) are lagging behind gradually in export-trade due to their poor efficiency in this arena.

The commerce minister said Bangladesh has graduated to the list of developing countries from the least-developed country (LDC) status and the country will achieve the full-fledged developing country status in 2027 after completing all official requirements.

Later, Tofail Ahmed addressed at the discussion of way forward development in the conference, and also spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting.