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.

In a short while Pascal Lamy, general director of the WTO will open the 7th ministerial conference. The title of his talk is "Unity is Strength". Once again he will explain that the WTO and especially the conclusion of the Doha round is an important contribution to the solution of the economic, climatic, financial, and hunger crises. His aim is to conclude this ministerial conference with a political declaration of intent of the WTO members that they would like to conclude the Doha round in 2010.

We, activists and representatives of social movements and civil societal organisations are not numerous here, but we hold the fort. Each day actions are taking place that show that the WTO is the cause of theses crises. Our criticism, that if the Doha round is brought to an end, governments will proceed with the deregulation e.g. concerning the financial markets (financial services would be liberalised even more through the GATS agreement) – which means the exact opposite of what they are pretending to do, shows its first results. Pascal Lamy is trying desperately to explain that the liberalization of financial services through the GATS agreement has nothing to do with deregulation.

Translation : Aleksander Milosz Zielinski