No trade-off in agriculture: Nath

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today reiterated that there would be no trade-off in agriculture at the World Trade Organisation for any other gains and said member countries had time until the next year to reach a conclusion on the Doha round.

"The ministerial meeting (at Hong Kong) is more to take forward the framework agreement of last year. The Doha round ends next year and we have slightly over a year to come to a conclusion. If some convergence does not happen (at Hong Kong) then it does not mean that expectations will come down. The hype of a ministerial meeting is sometimes highly exaggerated. Under no circumstances will we be flexible on agriculture," Nath said at the Economic Editors' Meeting.

Asked about foreign investment in the retail sector, Nath said the government was well aware that the retail sector was growing at 22-23 per cent and that the middle class was growing at the rate of 25 per cent.

However, he said, the government had so far not come across any real model which would ensure incremental employment while not displacing the small mom-and-pop stores.

"It is not a question of domestic versus foreign investment but a question of big versus small. The real issue is whether the big retail chains will displace the existing players," he said.

Asked about the strategy to tackle the slowdown in global exports predicted by various think tanks, Nath said India was today getting into the global market in sectors like pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, chemicals and adding more to the export basket.

"The exporters are also looking at new markets such as in Africa," he said. Nath said the South Asia Free Trade Agreement would come into effect next year but admitted that there were still some differences between members which would be resolved soon.