As the World Trade Organization’s 6th Ministerial Conference got underway in Hong Kong yesterday, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), in partnership with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, assembled key corporate, NGO and government stakeholders for a reception and discussion session on completing the Doha Development Round.

In a keynote address, Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven urged the assembled group to pressure their respective governments to keep anti-poverty efforts at the center of the WTO talks. "It is not too late to go all out for an ambitious and balanced package in the DDA," she said. Launched in 2001, the DDR aims to slash rich nation farm subsidies, which distort world markets, and significantly lower barriers to imports in both developed and developing countries.

The Director of GMF’s Trade and Development program, Susan Sechler, welcomed guests from both sides of the Atlantic and from public and private sectors and sent a message that aid for trade should be high on the agenda. She also highlighted recent initiatives, including farm subsidy transparency, the transatlantic survey of public opinion on trade and poverty reduction, and other original research in trade, agriculture, and development. 

Ann Tutwiler, the new director of the Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development initiative, based out of GMF’s headquarters in Washington, used the occasion to announce Hewlett’s programs and initiatives on trade, agriculture, and development at the event.

GMF’s presence at the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong with several events throughout the week, continues GMF’s multi-year effort to form a grand coalition of U.S., European, and developing country partners in support of an ambitious outcome to the Doha Round.

GMF hosted similar discussions at the 2005 G8 Summit and the UN Millennium Conference to generate innovative ideas and break the political logjam that has deadlocked global trade negotiations in recent years. As the Doha negotiations extend into 2006, GMF and its partners across the globe will continue to promote dialogue and encourage action intended to make the global trading system address critical development challenges.

Above in photo: Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, center, with former Irish President Mary Robinson and European Parliamentarian Erika Mann at GMF’s December 13, 2005 reception in Hong Kong.