Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma will meet World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo in Davos later this week to discuss the road-map for the on-going global trade talks.
The WTO negotiations saw some progress last month after years of inaction.
Sharma and Azevedo will meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. The Minister will also hold one-on-one meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Netherlands and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
Senior officials from top global companies including Rene Hooft Grafland, Chief Financial Officer, Heineken; Simon Henry, Global CFO of Shell; Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo; and Frans Van Houtan, President of Royal Phillips; are also scheduled to meet Sharma to discuss their India plans.
Bali deal Trade Ministers from WTO member countries struck a deal in Bali last month where it was agreed that the farm subsidies issue will be sorted out over the next four years and no penalties would be imposed on developing countries in the interim period for breaching the given cap under specific conditions.
An agreement was also reached on Trade Facilitation or seamless movement of goods between borders under which countries, including India, took on commitments to improve border infrastructure and cut down transaction time.
Sharma is likely to apprise the WTO chief of the steps being taken by India to implement the Trade Facilitation pact.
“The Commerce Department has started consultations with other Ministries for framing and implementing procedures for facilitating trade,” the official said.
The Bali deal was struck after years of inaction at the WTO since the on-going Doha Round was launched in November 2001.
Although the Bali package is limited in its coverage and excludes all the important Doha issues such as tariffs on goods and services liberalisation, it raised hopes that the talks were still alive.
“India would also want to know the issues that would come up for future discussions at the WTO. The Minister will assure the WTO D-G of full support in the talks,” the official added.