(a) whether collapse of trade negotiations in Cancun can arise problem of maintaining trade growth and also affect our GDP growth rate;
(b) if so, whether India seeks to relaunch the dialogue at the WTO to resolve the stalemate of the Cancun conference;
(c) if so, whether several other countries are being contacted in this regard; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this direction?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY( SHRI S.B. MOOKHERJEE )
(a) to (d): Trade growth is affected by several factors including international demand, tariff and non tariff barriers to exports and imports, competitiveness of domestic producers and relative movement of exchange rates. Various projections indicate that in 2003-2004 trade and GDP growth of India will surpass that of many developed and developing countries.
In accordance with the mandate given by the WTO Ministers at Cancun in the final Ministerial Statement adopted at the conclusion of the Conference on 14 September 2003, the Chairman of the General Council, in close coordination with the Director General of the WTO, is coordinating the work on outstanding issues with regard to the meeting of the General Council at the senior official level in Geneva on 15 December 2003.
India has always supported the smooth functioning of a rule based and fair multilateral trading system. At the same time, we have also been emphasizing that if further progress is to be expected, all WTO Members should show genuine commitment to re-start the multilateral process. The concerns of large number of developing countries including the least developed among them will have to be taken into account and the `development` dimension envisaged in the Doha mandate will have to be retained in letter and spirit. India is participating in all the informal consultations in this regard and is also interacting with other Members with a view to facilitating the process. India is also closely coordinating with various developing country groupings, especially the G-20 on Agriculture and G-16 on Singapore issues.