Ministers from 149 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are to gather Tuesday in Hong Kong for the Six Ministerial Conference, which is seen as vital for pushing forward the Doha Round trade negotiations.

The following is a brief introduction of the Doha Round negotiations:

Officially called the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), the round was launched by the WTO's fourth ministerial meeting held in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2001.

It aims to slash subsidies, tariffs and other barriers to trade so as to help reduce poverty and spur economic growth in developing countries.

The negotiations cover agriculture, including reducing export subsidies, domestic support and import tariffs, liberalizing services, including in banking, insurance and tourism, and lifting barriers on non-agricultural products. Other issues include "trade facilitation" and development.

In September, 2003, the WTO's fifth ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed as significant differences emerged between the rich and poor nations over agriculture and non- agricultural market access (NAMA).

The Doha Round had missed its initial deadline of December 2004 after the deadlocked Cancun meeting. But it was put back on track following a meeting in July, 2004, at which WTO members agreed to phase out agricultural subsidies and reset the target of concluding the round by the end of 2006.