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Attacks on US reduce chance of Doha WTO round

The attacks on New York and Washington have made the November launch of a fresh round of global trade liberalisation talks more difficult, the next chief of the World Trade Organisation Supachai Panitchpakdi said on Monday.

Supachai said he had not given up hope that WTO ministers would agree to launch a new round and indirectly help shore up a slowing world economy.

But he said the unpredictable environment ahead of the planned talks in November -- a meeting held every two years to decide on where the 142 members of the body want to steer it -- was eroding political will for an imminent launch.

"It (the attacks) has made the launch of a round more difficult but at the same time has made the launch of a round more relevant, much more needed than before," Supachai told Reuters in an interview.

Following the September 11 attacks, some trade diplomats have said they believed the November 9-13 meeting in Doha, the Qatari capital, would have to be postponed, especially if the United States launched military strikes.

Thailand's former deputy prime minister said instability sparked by the attacks had made nations look inward -- focusing on domestic matters such as security, energy supply and banking solidity -- rather than outward to create a stronger rules-based trading system.

"It will make it more difficult because you need political consensus.

"You don't work on trade negotiations on the basis of just trade factors alone... you need political will from the capitals."

Supachai replaces current WTO director general Mike Moore, a former New Zealand prime minister, in September 2002.

Moore has urged member countries to "drive forward" for the key Doha meeting of member states, that a further 30 countries negotiating entry are also expected to attend.

Supachai said he hoped security concerns linked to holding such a high-profile gathering in the Middle East could be overcome.

He later told a news conference that there might be a case for delaying the Doha meeting for a fortnight or a month.

"If we need to do that we will be given more time to work on the new round." he told reporters.

"If we need to we may have to boost some of the security requirements. But if we have to change something, don't change the venue, change the date."

A range of international events, including this week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in the United States, the Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting in St Lucia, and the Asia-Africa Games in India in November, have been cancelled or postponed since hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center and The Pentagon.

The United States has named Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect behind the attacks, which have left almost 7,000 people dead or missing. US forces have been massing within striking distance of Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban is believed to be harbouring bin Laden.

Supachai said terrorist organisations were typically spawned in difficult economic conditions, but a new completed round would help forge a collective defence.

"If we can really successfully negotiate a new round and complete it in a shortest time possible it will deliver positive results for the global trading system."

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