DDA needs serious acceleration of pace to meet 2010 goal, Lamy
21 Oct '09
2 min read
Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his report to the General Council on 20 October 2009, said “it will be difficult to get to 2010 without a serious acceleration of pace. We need to see real negotiations emerge, not only informal consultations and discussions, but real exchanges among Members”. He said he would be holding consultations on the key issues with negotiating chairs and meet with senior trade officials during the week.
Before I report on the activities of the TNC since we last met in this format, I wish to convey my personal sympathy and that of the membership to the people in Asia and the Pacific affected by recent natural disasters.
Turning now to my report, since I last reported to the General Council in July, work in the Doha Development Round negotiations has been taken up again at the level of the Negotiating Groups following the summer break. You will recall that on 22 September the TNC held an informal meeting to consider the next steps in the DDA [Doha Development Agenda] over the coming months as well as my report to the G20 Leaders' meeting in Pittsburgh in light of developments that had emerged from leaders' meetings in L'Aquila and an informal meeting of ministers in New Delhi.