PHA-Exch> mobilization of trade ministers in Davos

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Garance UPHAM fannie.upham at gmail.com

Key trade ministers to meet in Davos late January


By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA (Reuters) - Key trade ministers will meet in Switzerland later
this month to take stock of the long-running Doha round of trade talks,
officials said on Monday.

The informal meeting, at a lunch hosted by Swiss Economy Minister Doris
Leuthard on Jan. 26, will be an opportunity to discuss some of the major
issues holding up a deal in the talks, launched at the end of 2001 to
bolster world trade.

"It's not an informal mini-ministerial conference. It's a simple lunch,"
said a spokesman for Leuthard.

Leuthard is holding the lunch on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum, an annual gathering of political and business leaders in the
Swiss resort of Davos. Trade ministers have often met during the forum
in recent years.

Officials said it was not yet certain who would attend the lunch, but at
least three of four major players were expected -- U.S. Trade
Representative Susan Schwab, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

Whether the fourth key player, Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath,
attends is unclear. French President Nicolas Sarkozy may visit India
that week which would keep some Indian participants in the meeting in
Delhi, a Swiss official said.

Schwab, Mandelson, Amorim and Nath have been invited to take part in a
World Economic Forum panel discussion later that afternoon on threats to
the global trading system. The other panelists are also likely to attend
the lunch.

Besides Leuthard herself, they are Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari,
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu and World Trade Organisation
(WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy.

Other ministers have also been invited, but the informal nature of the
lunch means the organisers do not need to follow the careful balance of
major players and countries representing groups and alliances
characterising WTO meetings.

Trade officials said the ministers are likely to focus on the broader
political issues dividing developed and developing countries, and food
exporters and importers, rather than engage in detailed negotiations.

Lamy has told negotiators a trade deal can be clinched this year. But
the next major stage is when the chairman of the key agriculture talks
issues a new draft negotiating text, followed by his counterparts in
industry and services. That is not expected until the end of January or
early February -- after the end of the Davos meeting.
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