The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in Hong Kong on Monday that the 2006 deadline for Doha talks is "feasible" but requires strong political determinations and compromises from all WTO members.

 

Supachai Panitchpakdi, director-general of the WTO, said while addressing the 38th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, that to conclude the Doha talks is the "most immediate priority" for the organization.

 

He stressed the importance of the sixth WTO ministerial meeting scheduled in December, noting that preparations for the meeting have to be all-around.

 

The failure of the fifth ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, was mainly due to a too wide agenda, said the WTO leader.

 

He added that the Hong Kong ministerial meeting will focus on five topics, covering the fields of agriculture, manufacture, society, development and planning.

 

He said there remains certain barriers rattling Doha-round talks, like taxes in sectors of agriculture and manufacture, concerns over the globalization trend and the difficulties the open-trade market is faced.

 

Supachai hailed the efforts that the WTO has been making in the past 10 years to successfully solve over 300 complaints, about the same number of cases that GATT had dealt with during its 47-year of existence.

 

The entry of China into the WTO in 2001 was "an event of enormance" in the group's history and it helped underpin China's market reform, he said.

 

China has become "an active and constructive" member of the WTO, Supachai said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2005)