Bridge disparity between rich and poor, says WTO chief

Director General of World Trade Organisation Roberto Azevedo today said both WTO and the world will have to respond to the very important challenge of bridging disparity between the rich and the poor for sustainable growth.
"...I don't think that sustainable growth- no matter where in the world, can be achieved without closing the gap between the rich and the poor; I think that WTO's work has to reflect that," Azevedo told reporters here.
Speaking at the panel discussion on 'Entering into a new trade era post Bali' as part of the CII Partnership Summit 2014 here, he said, "...I myself don't believe for example- in a very simplistic view that the world is now globalised and that we are all part of a global productive chain- therefore everything is resolved. I don't think that."

"I think that there is work to be done, and WTO will do its part in trying to explore that the least developed and developing countries are productive part of this global value chain."
Stating that achieving this is not an easy task, Azevedo said: "because conditions change from country to country; ...But we will have to help these countries to be part of it."
"In order to be sustainable both the WTO and the world will have to respond to the very important challenge of disparity- that is the huge gap that exists between the rich and the poor, not only in countries but also in a transnational way as well," he added.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the session, he said "I think that the Bali outcome has two dimensions, first one is the boost it gives to the system itself- in terms of credibility, relevance and second element is the economic impact of what we have agreed on."
"Economists have estimated that some of the outcomes from Bali could provide benefit to the world economy up to USD 1 trillion and up to 21 million jobs worldwide.