Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Members of the World Trade Organisation will be ?able to chart a path forward? to revive the talks on Doha development round, which have been ?deadlocked? for almost three years, WHO Director General Pascal Lamy said Monday.

?We are preparing the 8th WTO ministerial conference which will take place in December and I am confident that the WTO members will be able to chart a path forward,? Lamy said at an event here.

The WTO ministerial meeting, the highest policy making body of the organisation, generally takes place once in two-three years. The 8th round of ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place in Geneva Dec 15-17.

Lamy urged all the 153 members to show flexibility and pragmatism in their approach while negotiating the deal.

?Pragmatism is needed to find paths that lead us to a final result, the path may not always be straight, we may need to take long winding roads, we may need to move at different speeds but the final goal will be worth it,? he said.

The Doha round of WTO negotiations, launched in Qatari capital in November 2001, has been deadlocked since 2008.

After inaugurating a WTO-sponsored course for government officials from the Asia-Pacific region here, Lamy urged the WTO members to show determination to conclude the Doha round, which is estimated to boost the global trade by over $200 billion within a year.

?We cannot give up just because the slope is too steep, because it takes too long or because the headlines are negative,? WTO chief said.

Lamy is on two-day visit to India aimed to garner support for reviving the stalled Doha round talks.

Lamy inaugurated a three-month course, called WTO Regional Trade Policy Course, in which 25 government officials 19 Asia Pacific countries. The course is conducted at the Centre for WTO Studies at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi Sep 5 to Nov 25.