WTO draft still a draft: Nath

Commenting on the draft text put out for the upcoming WTO Hong Kong Ministerial, Union minister for commerce and industry, Kamal Nath said, 8216;8216;I8217;m sure that Hong Kong will be much more than this draft8230; I will be discussing it with the G-90 nations day after in Brussels and then the G-4 again in Geneva on December 2 and 3. This is only the first draft. We need to scale up8230;8217;8217;

The G-90 meet is expected to be crucial as vast sections of Least Developing Countries will discuss the draft text. These include African, Carribean and the Pacific nations that are members of the WTO. Asked to react to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy8217;s statement that it8217;s too late to force a consensus, Nath said that it was not about 8216;8216;forcing consensus, but arriving at a consensus.8217;8217;

Nath was speaking at the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. He said that the 8220;confidence of business in multilateral agreements is at stake8221; in the Hong Kong meet. 8216;8216;As compared to ten years ago, when everyone was skeptical at the end of the Uruguay round, the WTO is now getting into exciting times.8217;8217;