Agreement on Bali package important for world trade

“Reaching agreement on the Bali package is vital so that the Doha Round can be resumed, allowing the World Trade Organization to continue to work towards freer, fairer and more open world trade,” said State Secretary Morten Høglund when he delivered Norway’s main statement at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali today.

Mr Høglund pointed out that a few issues requiring political solutions still needed to be resolved at the Ministerial Conference, including questions of food security in developing countries and a multilateral agreement on simplifying trade procedures. Success in Bali is essential in order to resume negotiations on the most important issues in the Doha Round, which are related to subsidies, trade rules and market access for goods and services.

Mr Høglund emphasised that lifting developing countries out of poverty by promoting their participation in world trade is one of the primary tasks of the organisation. He announced that Norway, in addition to its ordinary contribution of NOK 30 million for WTO’s expert development activities, will provide a further NOK 30 million to support developing countries’ implementation of a new agreement on simplified trade procedures.