§ 11. Liz Blackman (Erewash) (Lab)What action she has taken to seek to revive the Doha development agenda. [149741]
§ The Minister for Trade and Investment (Mr. Mike O'Brien)Since September my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and I have had discussions on reviving the Doha development agenda with a wide range of Trade Ministers in Europe and across the world. In recent weeks I have already visited India and my right hon. Friend has visited China to discuss these issues. This weekend I shall meet EU Trade Ministers in Brussels, and my right hon. Friend will meet ministers from other countries at Davros.
§ Liz BlackmanI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. A key objective of the UK Government at Cancun was to support the voice and interests of poorer developing countries. My hon. Friend mentioned India, a country with enormous economic potential. In the light of his recent visit, what assessment has he made of the potential for progress of the Doha negotiations in the coming year?
§ Mr. O'BrienThere was a great deal more optimism at the meeting I had with Arun Jaitley, the Trade Minister, than there was in the immediate aftermath of the Cancun summit in September. Indeed, the letter from Bob Zoellick, the trade representative, was very encouraging, and the US has set out a positive agenda for further meetings on the Doha development agenda. A mood is now developing that I hope will be reflected in the views of EU Trade Ministers when I talk to them at the weekend. It is possible to create a broad-based set of parameters for further negotiations that will in due course lead to an agreement that can lift 300 million people out of poverty. There is not only a commercial and economic imperative to get this going again, but a moral one.