Alexandra Strickner's blog
Under the motto „Unity is strength“ General Director Pascal Lemy will open the 7th WTO ministerial conference
After a colourful manifestation in Geneva last Saturday, which unfortunately had to be cut short because of riots, today the 7th WTO ministerial conference begins. Here are some pictures of the manifestation:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tni/sets/72157622896646142/
Compared to the preceding WTO ministerial conferences in Hong Kong (2005) and Cancun (2003) everything is very calm. You can see that the WTO is in a crisis. The talks of the Doha round have been blocked for years and with this conference probably not much is going to change in this area. While in the last years the member states of the European Union had sent their ministers to these conferences, so they could watch after the EU commissar, this time many countries have sent only less important officials. The Canadian minister of economy for example makes just a short visit for the opening ceremony and departs already tomorrow.