Published on January 17, 2011
Trade ministers from key WTO members, including India, will be meeting at Davos in
Switzerland on the 29th of this month. Doha negotiations have been going on for the last 10 years for a global trade deal.
The informal meeting to be hosted by Switzerland on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum event, will also be attended by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy.
Ministers from the select group are expected to take stock of the progress of the Doha negotiations which have not yielded any fruitful result since their launch in 2001 at the Qatari capital.
Developed and developing countries have been blaming each other for the tardy progress on talks for a multi-lateral agreement which could open the global trade.
Besides the Doha round of talks, the meeting is also likely to take stock of recent global trade trends, including rising commodity prices, restrictions on exports and protectionist measures in some rich countries.
India along with emerging nations like China has been protesting protectionist policies like the hike in US visa fee for professionals by the American authorities.