VN attends WTO ministerial conference

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang has joined his foreign counterparts at the 8^th World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the plenary sessions, which are taking place from December 15-17, delegates heard reports presented by trade ministers from 153 WTO member economies.

The delegates also attended three working sessions where they are scheduled to discuss themes such as “Importance of the multilateral trading system and the WTO”, “Trade and development”, and “Doha development agenda”.

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said that the conference offers a chance to find a path for WTO’s activities in the next two years, which will likely lead to stronger multilateral cooperation, improved regulations for global trade reform, and anti-protectionism, and should help member countries restore growth, employment and development.

The biennial conference takes place in the context of economic slowdown in every region, increasing debt and unemployment, unstable food security and deadlock over the Doha negotiation round.

This year’s conference will also recognize Russia as an official member of the world’s largest trade body.