L'Aquila, Italy - Group of Eight (G8) leaders on Wednesday rejected protectionism and called for a quick conclusion to the stalled Doha round of talks on world trade in an official statement.
'We reconfirm our commitment to keep markets open and free and to reject protectionism of any kind. In difficult times we must avoid past mistakes of protectionist policies,' the leaders of Britain, Canada
, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the European Union said.
The G8 leaders, who met for their annual summit in the Italian town of L'Aquila, called for a 'rapid, ambitious, balanced and comprehensive conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda on the basis of progress already made' in World Trade Organization (WTO) talks.
They hailed 'signs of stabilization' in world financial markets following the catastrophic slump that began in the autumn, and said that they 'believe that the turnaround will be reinforced as our (economic stimulus) measures reach their full effect.'
But they stressed that 'the situation remains uncertain and significant risks remain to economic and financial stability.'
To restore confidence, it is an 'urgent priority' to repair trust in the banking sector, including by dealing with so-called 'toxic' assets whose value can no longer be estimated, they said.
The summit opened amid the worst global downturn in decades, with forecasts from the WTO that global trade will drop by 10 per cent in 2009 compared with last year.
On Tuesday, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy urged the G8 to fight protectionism and complete the Doha Development Round of trade talks, launched in Qatar in 2001, by the end of next year.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1488637.php/G8_rejects_protectionism_calls_for_"rapid"_Doha_deal__Roundup__Keep your eye on this one and make sure our Dem pols know that we say NO to DOHA!
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
