WTO Director-General encourages all MC6 participants to be more open-minded in negotiations

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy advised all the delegates to the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference to be "more open-minded and bolder" in their negotiations so as to achieve the satisfactory results.

Addressing Tuesday afternoon at the conference's opening ceremony, Lamy said all the participants attending the conference expect to achieve their own goals and thus become co-winners and declare a common victory.

"But for that, some risks must be taken," the director-general said.

"A popular Chinese proverb says 'If you do not go into the cave of the tiger, how will you get its cub?'" Lamy said, "In other words: nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Taking a bit of risk will mean a chance for improved rules, for a level playing field and for free and fair trade, which is in short the best chance for development, the backbone of the Doha Round.

The official said repeating the long known positions, using negotiators' language, refusing to understand the reasons of counterparts and avoiding any risks including political risks will only "get us to nowhere."

Lamy encouraged all the WTO members to be open-minded, bold and courageous in the six-day conference to deal with the difficult and complex negotiations.

Source: Xinhua