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Maran
to meet parties on WTO
Our
Economic Bureau
New Delhi, Oct 17: In order to "take on board
all the stakeholders" in the trade policy, commerce minister
Murasoli Maran will initiate a series of meetings with representatives
of all political parties starting Thursday.
| ...rejects Coke’s
waiver plea |
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Our Economic Bureau
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New Delhi, Oct 17: Commerce &
industry minister Murasoli Maran has ruled out Coca Cola’s
request for exemption from mandatory divestment of equity.
He also said that the government is pursuing a six-point
strategy to facilitate implementation of foreign direct
investment (FDI) projects.
Mr Maran was speaking at the Economic Editors’ Conference
here on Wednesday.
Commenting on the memorandum of understanding signed by
Coca Cola and the government at the time of the company’s
entry, he said that this would not be changed. |
Mr Maran said here Wednesday the objective
was to arrive at some kind of formula and decide "how
far we can go and what will be in national interest,"
adding a "give and take" approach seen in any multilateral
negotiations had to be decided by the stakeholders at the
Doha meeting as well.
Mr Maran questioned the need for launching a new or development
round demanded by some of the industrialised countries and
expressed concern at the plight of the people in many Third
World countries who are facing near starvation.
Expressing the government’s disappointment over the Uruguay
Round implementation issues as reflected in the text of the
draft declaration circulated by the WTO General Council chairman
last month, Mr Maran also wanted that Annex-I & II should
be merged and the language improved.
Further, Annex-III, also dealing with implementation, should
be added to the merged list. And as for the remaining implementation
issues, a fast-track mechanism should be set up, he said.
Asked whether the ministerial conference will be held at Doha
in November, Mr Maran said, "The conference will be held,
whether at Doha or not I don’t know."
The minister said at the informal meeting of the WTO trade
ministers in Singapore over the past week-end, New Delhi had
the support of the Third World, adding the initial response
from the developed countries to the implementation concerns,
too, was favourable.
There was also a growing realisation on the part of the West
that they could not make real progress on the economic front
without addressing the concern of the Third World.
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