Trade ministers from 21 countries have discussed avenues for compromise for the next World Trade Organization (WTO) conference at an informal meeting. At the invitation of Swiss President Guy Parmelin, countries that took part included China, the EU, Japan, and the USA.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin invited trade ministers from 21 countries to an informal meeting held on 22 January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The meeting was attended by the world’s leading trading powers, including China, the EU, Japan, and the United States, as well as Egypt, Argentina, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and South Korea.
The meeting was organized as preparation for the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, which is scheduled to take place at the end of March in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Discussions focused on the planned Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and the moratorium on customs duties applied to electronic commerce, where compromises are already within reach.
Parmelin summarized the discussions by stating that the WTO is at a “critical juncture in terms of its credibility.” He added that the 14th Ministerial Conference should also address how the rules-based multilateral trading system can be strengthened and preserved. For most participants in the informal meeting in Davos, the principle of non-discrimination must remain a fundamental pillar of the trading system.
Members of the Swiss government (Federal Councillors) responsible for foreign trade have been hosting informal ministerial meetings on WTO-related issues on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos for several decades.