Indonesia Urges Bali Package to be Implemented at WTO

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) members to implement the Bali Package, discussed at the 2013 summit, as the basis of Doha Development Round or Doha Development Agenda (DDA) that has been in a deadlock for over 14 years.

“There is no need to immediately lower the ambition and try to conclude the Doha Development Agenda in December 2015,” Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said after an informal meeting with WTO members in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday, January 24, 2015, as quoted by Antara News.

Rachmat said some of the member countries were giving an impression to conclude the Doha Development Round at the 10^th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairoby, Kenya, in December 2015. Meanwhile, Rachmat added, other countries wanted to focus the attention on post-Bali working program.

“We pointed out that the Bali Package should not be left out. All of its elements must be implemented to maintain trust,” Rachmat said.

Rachmat claimed that the Bali Package was a win-win solution for developed and developing countries after the Doha Round was in a deadlock in 2001.

The trade agreement, set forth in the Bali Package, covers three sectors, namely trade, agriculture and less developed countries capacity (LDC).

Indonesian Ambassador to the WTO, Iman Pambagio, added that one of the reasons for insisting on the Bali Package was that there was a new confidence to continue the world trade system initiated by the WTO.

“The Bali Package that was urged to be implemented accounts only 7-8 percent of the issues at the Doha Development Round,” he said.

WEF | ANTARA NEWS