Successful conclusion of Doha Trade Round urgent: Merkel

Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel told the German Parliament yesterday that reactivating the stalled Doha round of World trade talks was an urgent priority. Merkel said in a speech, "A key point for us this year is the conclusion of the Doha round, a successful conclusion, for which we will make a massive effort."

Chancellor Merkel did not specify how Germany proposes to kick-start negotiations, but underline her advocacy of closer economic ties with the United States. She said, "We want to complement these efforts toward free world trade with a closer Trans-Atlantic economic partnership."

Germany concurrently holds the presidency of the European Union and also the G-8.

The chancellor told parliamentarians that the European Union can benefit from a liberalisation of world trade, "but we also know that we particularly help developing countries with fair world trade — so there is a great urgency to making progress," she said.

The Doha Round, has faltered since its inception five years ago as much due to the ceaseless clashes between the developed and the poorer developing countries over clearing barriers to trade in goods and agriculture, as the incessant sniping between the European Union and United States.