Confidence Building Must Before Wto

Confidence building measures should precede attempts to resume the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference was the view at the meeting between Japanese trade minister Takashi Fukaya and Union minister for commerce and industry Murasoli Maran.

India and Japan also reiterated their commitment to a rule-based multilateral trading system at the meeting.

Both sides recognised the need for continuing with the mandated negotiations and agreed there was a need to improve the existing rules, especially anti-dumping, to make them meaningful, particularly for developing countries.

There was also agreement on the need to continue further discussions and keep in close touch on WTO issues to strengthen coordination and cooperation between India and Japan.

 

This is especially so for the strengthening of the multilateral trading system, capacity building for developing countries and improving the existing rules.

The two sides also shared the view that WTO members should not resort to social issues such as labour standards for protectionist purposes. Maran specifically emphasised that the issue of labour standards at the international level could be appropriately addressed only in the International Labour Organisation and not in the WTO.

On the Japanese stand that rules on investment and competition policy could contribute to the world economic growth, Maran said the Multilateral Investment Agreement was not needed for increasing investment flows.

He said investment inflows depended on two factors _ adequate returns on investment and security and protection of investment.

Bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements were sufficient to give the required protection to the investors and ensure investment flows, he said.