(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Ministers in charge of WTO affairs and WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo met on Saturday in Davos, at the invitation of Swiss minister of economic Johann Schneider-Ammann.
"The purpose of the informal gathering was to discuss the negotiating agenda for 2015 in view of a conclusion of the Doha Round," said Schneider-Ammman in a press conference.
Some 21 WTO members, represented at the ministerial level, attended the meeting on the fringes of the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos.
Ministers stressed the importance of achieving progress on the "Doha Development Agenda," issues that had remained unsolved at the Bali Ministerial Conference in December 2013, notably in the areas of agriculture, industrial products and services, he added.
Schneider-Ammann noted that ministers underlined their readiness to engage constructively towards a realistic and clearly defined "work programme" by July, framing the negotiations on the remaining Doha issues.
"In this context, they recalled the central development dimension of the Round and its particular focus on issues relevant for least developed countries." Furthermore, ministers welcomed the hosting by Kenya of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015.
"Twenty years after the Organization's establishment, the ministers shared an understanding that very important objectives are on the WTO's agenda in 2015, and we expressed our confidence that Members will succeed in meeting these objectives in a timely way," he added.
They also reiterated their commitment to implementing all decisions taken at the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, including on public stockholdings for food security purposes as amended in November 2014.
A sense of urgency must be instilled to the work in Geneva. Intensive efforts will be required in the three main areas of negotiations - agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA) and services - but also in other fields.
Furthermore, the development dimension, and in particular aspects relevant to least developed countries, will have to remain at the centre.
The key issues will need to be identified rapidly and addressed in a transparent and inclusive way. We should be aware of each other's interests and constraints, focus on what is doable, consider new ways of engaging in order to move ahead more efficiently, and be prepared to review longstanding negotiating positions.
The ministers welcomed the process set in motion in Geneva towards reaching these objectives and concurred that this shift in gear has to be sustained by a high level of engagement by all Members, also in capitals.
Some of them also mentioned the importance of delivering concrete outcomes in plurilateral initiatives, on a most favoured nation (MFN) basis, such as the amendment of the Information Technology Agreement.
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