Dutch minister hopeful of WTO agreement

BRUSSELS, March 13 (Chinese media) -- Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Bert Koenders said Thursday that he is hopeful that the 153 countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) can reach an agreement on more free trade this summer, Dutch paper Het Financieele Dagblad reported Friday.

The Dutch government will press for the completion of the so-called Doha development agenda of the WTO at the G20 summit in London in April, Koenders said.

"It is now up to the political leaders to make a decision. We feel it is essential that a breakthrough is made now because of the risk of protectionist measures due to the current crisis," Koenders was quoted as saying.

Recalling that the WTO member states have tried but failed to reach an agreement last summer and in November, the minister said the outcome now very much depends on the attitude of the United States and India.

According to Koenders, the negotiators at the WTO have completed their talks. "It is no longer a question of technical solutions, but the question of whether politicians now dare to tackle the issue, now that global demand is declining in trade and there is a risk of protectionism," he said.

The Dutch government expects that the G20 summit will make a point of this and that there will be a summit in the summer when a successful result will be reached, he said.

In any WTO deal, the Netherlands will ensure that developing countries are not disadvantaged, said Koenders.

He is calling for poor countries to be given greater access to the markets in wealthy countries for products of their manufacturing industries and at the same time to give poor countries temporary protection for food products from wealth countries, Het Financieele Dagblad said.