Pakistan's Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has gone to Geneva for WTO negotiations for agreeing on figures for tariff and subsidy cuts to enable the Doha Round be closed in 2006, according to an official statement. Khan will attend the ministerial level meeting of G20, a coalition of major developing countries including Brazil, China, Pakistan, India etc. The statement said that the minister highlighted the importance of negotiations and termed it a ‘make or break' time for the Doha Round. He applauded the catalyst role of the G-20 in keeping the Round alive. Khan cautioned that if the Round is allowed to go into hibernation it would allow the major subsidizers and protectionist countries to continue with their current policies at the cost of the developing countries. He said that in case of agriculture market access, the Group has a widely acclaimed middle ground position and it has to be ensured that this middle ground approach is not allowed to be eroded through the sensitive products route. On reduction of subsides, he asked the Group to maintain its high ambition so that a real cut is achieved.
