São Paulo – The director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo, paid a visit this Tuesday (01) to the Qatari capital, Doha, and stressed that the organization can support Qatar’s economic goals. “Qatar has a solid vision for its people and its economy. Trade and the WTO have already helped to implement this vision and will continue to do so,” Azevêdo was quoted as saying in a WTO press release.
The WTO chief met with Qatar’s Economy and Commerce minister Ahmed Bin Jassim Al-Thani, the chairman of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce Khalifa Bin Jassim Al-Thani, and the national committee for WTO-related affairs. He also attended an event organized by the Qatar Business Association.
Azevêdo remarked that Qatar plans on becoming a trade and financial hub, and that “reducing the time and cost of moving goods across the border can make a big difference.” He remarked that the Trade Facilitation Agreement, whose discussions involved the WTO, is designed to address that problem, and said the country must ratify it. “By making trade flow more easily, this agreement can also support Qatar’s economic diversification,” he asserted.
Azevêdo also championed the expanded version of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement, which was discussed last year and provides for the elimination of tariffs on 201 products. According to the WTO, global technology trade is worth USD 1.3 trillion, or 10% of total global trade. “This is larger than global trade in automotive products,” he said.
The director-general believes the expanded IT agreement will lower business costs for companies of all sizes and help create jobs. “For Qatar, as a member of the original Information Technology Agreement, this expanded agreement is potentially very fruitful,” he pondered.
Azevêdo also said the multilateral trade system that the WTO represents must deliver more results more quickly. The biggest initiative in this respect is the famed Doha Round for the liberalization of global trade, thus named because it was launched at a WTO meeting held in 2001in the Qatari capital. The talks, however, never concluded, whereas agreements discussed outside the realm of the organization are picking up steam, a case in point being the Transpacific Partnership, established by countries in the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
“It is clear that all of our members want to tackle the big, outstanding trade issues. A debate is currently under way about the precise shape that this work should take. I am confident that Qatar will make its voice heard in this debate to help us deliver further, much-needed reforms to global trade rules,” the director-general concluded.
According to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Qatari minister of Economy and Commerce stated that his country places great value on the multilateral trade system, and this is attested by the fact that his ministry has an office at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. He also said the Doha Round remains a priority, and said contentious points must be addressed.
On Wednesday (02), Azevêdo will pay a visit to Jordan.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
