HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Hong Kong's top commerce official Thursday ruled out the city hosting a meeting of World Trade Organization trade ministers this year because there isn't enough time to prepare for the event.
The decision makes it almost certain that the so-called Doha round of trade talks won't be concluded by its end-2004 deadline.
WTO members launched their current trade talks in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, with a deadline of the end of 2004 to lower trade barriers and to boost international trade and the global economy.
But the talks have been bogged down as a result of rich countries resisting calls to open their borders to the farm products of less developed nations. The last WTO trade ministers' meeting in the Mexican seaside resort of Cancun last September collapsed because of clashes over farm subsidies and regulating investment.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang urged the World Trade Organization and its member nations to make progress on setting a date for crucial trade talks so his city could begin preparations to host the gathering.
Hong Kong volunteered last year to host a new meeting, called the 6th Ministerial Conference, but warned the WTO's 146 member nations that it needs a year to prepare for the event.
However, talks Wednesday in Geneva left the WTO's members split over whether to set a date for the meeting.
"We are naturally disappointed that they are not able to decide on the timing, " Tsang said in a statement.
The official pointed to the immense logistical challenge of preparing for days of meetings by thousands of senior government officials.
"We need to prepare logistically from the booking of the venue, hotel bookings, transportation, security and so forth, so we need time," he said.
In a bid to prod WTO delegates to set a date for the next meeting, Tsang said Hong Kong would manage to get ready for the meeting within nine months rather than a year.
"We will be working together with the other members in the next few months to ensure that there is significant progress and to identify the suitable time for the next ministerial meeting," Tsang said.
The most contentious issue is agriculture, where poor nations are demanding massive cuts in the hundreds of billions of dollars paid by rich nations in farm subsidies. Industrialized countries, in return, want to see developing nations make cuts in import duties on agricultural products and manufactured goods, as well as accepting foreign competition in areas like communications and financial services.
-By John Ryan, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002;
john.ryan@dowjones.com
-Edited by John Viljoen
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