Former WTO director general and current secretary general of the united Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi on Monday called for ‘‘an equitable treatment in areas of interest’’ as regards India’s stand at the Hong Kong talks.Panitchpakdi, who met PM Manmohan Singh and commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath, said there was agreement that UNCTAD’s role was to look ahead, even beyond Hong Kong. However in a message that India should open up more sectors for FDI, the UNCTAD chief said despite its “active engagement in the heart of the (WTO) negotiations’’, India was under-performing by 70-80 per cent of its trade potential. “India has shown wider interest in the Doha round than before. It’s part of the G-4, the FIPS, the G-33 and has taken a leadership role in the G-20. But India’s potential for trade growth, from its present 0.8 per cent of world trade, is great Doha negotiations offer a unique opportunity to India to realise its trade and development goals. Benefits of trade liberalisation in all three areas (agriculture, industrial goods and services) can be high,” he said. According to some estimates, welfare benefits to the tune of $820 million may flow into India from liberalisation of trade in agriculture, he said.Unlike the earlier Seattle, Doha and Cancun rounds, the Hong Kong meeting has no pre-requisite mandate. “It’s just another meeting to gather momentum for a successful completion of the Doha round. Tacitly, members have talked about agreeing on modalities (at HK). It would take six months to a year for countries to schedule their commitments.” Panitchpakdi also called for India’s support for UNCTAD in the UN’s reform process.According to Nath, the test for UNCTAD in the coming years would be its capacity to deliver on research and policy analysis, and capacity and consensus building that would have the greatest possible impact on beneficiary countries.
