John Tsang, chairman of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Hong Kong Ministerial Conference (HKMC), said Monday the target of the conference is to build a platform for the Doha Development Agenda negotiations toward a successful conclusion in 2006.

Tsang emphasized that WTO members remained fully committed to the high level of ambition that they set for themselves when they launched the Doha negotiations four years ago.

He made the comments at the "Dialogue with Ministers and SeniorWTO Officials" session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO,which is held in Hong Kong from Dec. 12 to 15 in conjunction with the HKMC.

"Even more importantly, the ministers must give a clear direction on how we intend to move forward after Hong Kong (conference), so that full modalities on agricultural and non-agricultural market access and all of the issues on our agendacan be sorted out as quickly as possible, preferably by early spring next year.

"We'll need to do that if the (Doha) Round is to conclude by its deadline of end 2006," Tsang said.

He added that he was encouraged by the recent agreement to extend the transition period for the least developed countries under the "Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement" to seven and a half years.

He said, "I am further encouraged that the General Council has agreed to amend the TRIPS Agreement, and make permanent the flexibility of developing and least developed members to produce or import generic drugs to deal with epidemics."

"As Chair, I will do my utmost to foster the best possible transparent and inclusive environment for members to engage in serious negotiations on these, and all the other issues on our agenda. But I must emphasize that the outcome of the conference isin the hands of all WTO members," he said.

Source: Xinhua