Deputy Prime Minister H E Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud addressing the 8th edition of World Chambers Congress in Doha yesterday.
By Satish Kanady
DOHA: The 8th edition of World Chambers Congress kick-started here with a call to unlock the 12-year old deadlock over the “Doha Round”.
Opening the four-day event, Deputy Prime Minister H E Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud urged the international business leaders to revive the Doha Round negotiations for an equitable global development .
The Deputy Premier said that the industrialised nations’ adherence to the protectionist procedures and their insistence on demanding developing countries to cut custom tariffs on their industrial commodities has caused the global economy to lose at least $170bn per year should the Doha agreement had been signed.
Doha Development Round was aimed to support the global economy and to help developing countries and least developed countries to integrate into a balanced one. The Doha round envisaged the lifting of barriers and customs restrictions and protectionist measures imposed by the major industrialised countries.
In contrast, he added, the developing countries are working to cut taxes and custom tariffs on goods imported from industrialized nations to increases the volume of trade between world countries. He noted that the international trade agenda initiative, launched by the International Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aims to reach new global rules for trade and investment that leads the WTO beyond the Doha Round.
The Deputy Premier said the establishment of a balanced, fair and multilateral global economy must take into account the needs, benefits and common interests of all its parties. It is no longer acceptable to ask developing countries to cancel or reduce tariffs and open their markets to the products of the industrialized nations while the industrialized countries still impose protectionist restrictions hampering the entry of the products of those states to their markets.
He hoped that the summit’s agenda would be an approach and base for the return of the negotiations to the right track to achieve real and balanced development for all member states through global trade liberalisation. Liberalisation is a means and not an end, he reminded.
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the global trade body, though made significant progress in the resolution of commercial disputes between its member states, need to further keep pace with the changing times and to attract new important and influential parties in its membership.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani, chairman, Qatar Chamber; Jean Guy Carrier, Secretary General, ICC, Paris; Gerard Worms, Chairman, ICC, Paris; Victor K Fung, Chairman, ICC; Remy Rowhani, CEO, Qatar Chamber, were among others who addressed the opening session . The International Chamber of Commerce World Chambers Federation, in association with the Qatar Chamber, is organising the event.
The Peninsula
