WTO negotiations bring a balance to economic ties

The World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks, which started in 2001, is considered a unique leap in international economic and commercial ties.

It gave countries of the southern hemisphere an opportunity to stand equal to countries of the north in drafting rules and agreements regulating global economy affairs in the post-Cold War era.

International power scales now differ from those that prevailed in the period from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1990, during which victorious countries set the rules according to their own interests, while securing high representation in international organisations, which allowed them to run these bodies in compliance with their own agendas.

The Doha round, which held its latest negotiations last week, mirrored a new power balance in the world.

For instance, southern countries, represented by India, Brazil and Mexico, fought for their demands that the European and American support for the agricultural sector is reduced, in return for opening the markets of developing countries for European and American industrial products, which means the liberalisation of commodities and services at a global level.

The Doha round of WTO negotiations aimed at the liberalisation of commodities and activating the global commercial exchange, with all parties seeking to achieve the biggest possible gains.

In fact, the European Union and the United States made significant concessions that would not have been possible without the radical change in international relations and the growing influence of developing countries and their effective contribution to the global economy.

In the latest round, the US has promised to reduce support to its farmers from $48 billion to $15 billion, which is a very important shift.

However, it was not convincing to developing countries, which saw that these changes fall short of creating competitiveness in global markets.

The competition revolves around dividing global markets between developing countries and developed countries.

For developing countries to be competitive, they called for cutting down the US and European extended to their agricultural products.

Meanwhile, developed countries demand that customs fees imposed on their industrial products by developing countries be reduced, which will help increase their exports to these countries.

These demands did not appeal to producers on both sides. American and European farmers staged protests during which they spilled milk on the streets and destroyed hundreds of tonnes of agricultural products.

They urged their governments to halt the Doha round of negotiations, which they believed would lead to their loss and reduce their competitiveness.

Meanwhile, producers in southern countries tried to draw attention to the western domination of the global economy, ignoring the necessity to increase their productivity and running the negotiations with high professionalism to achieve some gains.This may open new export outlets such as the ones achieved by China and Asian countries in the field of ready-to-wear industry since the liberalisation of this industry in 2005.

Regardless of the failure of the Doha round of talks, the growth of international commercial ties enables all countries of the world to achieve considerable gains, if they make the best use of opportunities and deal with changes in a flexible and professional way. This is especially because drafting global agreements is done within a balance of economic powers that did not exist before.

The writer is a UAE economic expert.