John Tsang, Hong Kong's commercial and industrial chief, said Wednesday the WTO 6th Ministerial Conference (MC6) to be held in Hong Kong next month remains a key staging post towards the conclusion of the Doha Round by the end of 2006.

Attending an informal gathering of trade ministers from various WTO economies in Geneva, John Tsang said a lot of progress has been made, adding that all concerned parties need to capture that progress and focus for the final stretch.

"The Doha Round is a development round. In this area, we need to harvest as many as possible agreement-specific proposals, particularly those submitted by the least-developed countries," hesaid.

He added: "From my recent travels, it seems that such a package would be essential in creating an environment of comfort that was lacking in a previous ministerial."

Tsang also held bilateral meetings in Geneva with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, Pakistan's Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2005)