Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

23-April-2012 18:54 IST

Anand Sharma warns against dilution of development focus

The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles Shri Anand Sharma has said that the financial crisis in the developed countries should not serve as an excuse for the developed countries to retreat from their commitments. Speaking at UNCTAD General Debate at Doha today, the Minister said that “without putting the developing countries especially LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS in the forefront of the global development agenda, we can hardly expect progress on the Millennium Development Goals. The global financial, food and energy crises have had a debilitating impact on these countries reversing their hard won development gains.”

Referrring to the danger of dilution of development focus in Doha Round, Shri Sharma stressed urgency to work for an early conclusion of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations to promote an open, equitable, rule-based and predictable multilateral trading system, “with development as a core element of the WTO’s work.”

Shri Anand Sharma called for “further international financial regulatory oversight and reform, strengthening policy coordination and financial regulation, and promoting the sound development of global financial markets and banking systems”. It must be ensured that the developing countries have an equitable access to the decision making process in this regard, he added.

DS/GK

Development focus: prevent dilution and secure Doha Round conclusion to keep trade policy centred on development. The statement warns against using global crises as a pretext to retreat from development commitments and calls for an early conclusion of the Doha Round to maintain an open, equitable, rule based multilateral trading system with development as a core element, prioritizing LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. It further urges international financial regulatory oversight and reform, stronger policy coordination, promotion of sound global financial markets and equitable access for developing countries to decision making on these reforms.