APEC Business Advisory Council supports a conclusion of the Doha Round but warns of risks to WTO's relevance

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has warned that business interest in the multilateral process is waning and that the WTO may be perceived as less relevant, if a conclusion to the Doha Round is further delayed.

Earlier this week, ABAC members met with WTO Ambassadors and Director-General Pascal Lamy in Geneva, to express their support for a rapid conclusion of Doha and to convey their strong belief in the primacy of the multilateral trading system.

While business generally supports the multilateral process and the WTO, explains Tony Nowell, ABAC Liberalization Working Group Chairman, scepticism has been steadily rising because of the widening gap between rhetoric and action.

Conversely, he says, support has been growing for the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). APEC Leaders have instructed officials to develop specific recommendations for moving forward on an FTAAP, an idea espoused by ABAC since 2006.

More here: http://www.apec.org/apec/news___media/media_releases/20091015_abac_doha.html