India to work for a successful finish of Doha round Tuesday, January 30, 2007 04:02 [IST]
London: India has said it is committed to working for a
successful conclusion of Doha
round of WTO talks despite the setbacks witnessed in the recent months.
"We remain focused on the larger goal of having a multi-lateral trade
agreement under the WTO," said Finance Minister P Chidambaram,delivering a
talk on 'India:
The Land of Growth Opportunities' at London School of Economics here last
night.
Ministers from key WTO member-countries had agreed in Davos last week to resume
the Doha round of trade negotiations and would
be meeting again within the next few days in Geneva.
The talks were suspended in July last year after developing countries led by India and Brazil rejected US' offer for
cutting its agriculture subsidy.
"Despite the setbacks witnessed in recent months, we are committed to
working for a successful conclusion of the Doha round," Chidambaram said.
Giving a graphic picture of the rapid economic strides made by the country
during the last three to four years, he said: "India is poised to witness an
investment boom that will take the Indian economy to an even higher growth
path." The current year, 2006-07, has been good so far. The first half has
registered a growth rate of 9.1 per cent, with the second quarter registering
9.2 per cent.
"I am reassured by the indicators available to us that growth in the
second half of the current fiscal will also be close to 9 per cent.
"If these indicators turn out to be correct, the GDP growth rate for the
current year will be the highest since reforms were initiated in 1991. The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) seems to share this assessment," he
said.
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