Sixth WTO ministerial conference opens

14 Dec '05

3 min read

Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference opening session took place in the afternoon and featured statements from Chief Executive Tsang, Commerce, Industry and Technology Secretary John C Tsang of Hong Kong, China.

John C Tsang is the conference chairperson, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, General Council Chairperson Amina Mohamed, who is Kenya's ambassador to the WTO, and UNCTAD Secretary-General (and former WTO Director-General) Supachai Panitchpakdi, on behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Ministers then proceeded to the business of the conference. Chairperson John Tsang confirmed his earlier announcement in the WTO General Council in Geneva that he had invited six ministers to act as “facilitators” to help him with negotiations on various subjects:

Non-agricultural market access — Commerce Minister Humayun Khan of Pakistan

Agriculture — Trade and Industry Minister Mukhisa Kituyi of Kenya

Development issues — Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Minister Clement Rohee of Guyana

Services — Trade Minister Hyun Chong Kim of Korea;

Rules — Foreign Minister Jonas Støre of Norway; and

Other issues — Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker of Chile.

At a press conference later, Chairperson Tsang said he and the facilitators will be holding informal meetings both among the full membership and in smaller groups, ensuring “transparency” and “inclusiveness”, i.e. that all members are informed and are represented in the consultations.

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