EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson on Monday called for new dynamic in Doha round of talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"It requires a new and better dynamic of negotiation than we have at the moment in the round," he told a conference here.

"The problem with the dynamic of this negotiation at the moment is that everyone is circling, dancing round each other in a rather guarded way, holding their cards close to their chest."

He said ministers needed to identify specific deals that can be worked out in the different areas of the Doha round of talks.

He also warned against protectionism in Europe and the United States if they see rapid expansion of the Chinese and Indian economies as a threat to jobs.

"If we are not careful ... we will find that the populist response to the rise of Asia is a protectionist one," he said, noting that resorting to protectionism might save jobs in the short run, but it would prevent economic growth and destroy employment in the long term.

"It is not telling people the truth. All it is doing is sentencing people to a slow and inevitable, and eventually painful, economic death," he insisted.

He also called for strong leadership from both the United States and the European Union as well as pressure on politicians from business leaders, whose voice has been relatively muted so far in the Doha round of trade negotiations, which was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 and got in deadlock ever since.

Source: Xinhua