Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iran following deadly Bandar Abbas port explosion    Saudi Arabia welcomes Palestinian leadership reforms, appointment of Hussein Al-Sheikh    Ministry of Hajj issued over 150,000 Nusuk cards for the Hajj of 2025    Saudi Arabia deports 12,866 illegal residents in a week    Pope Francis laid to rest at historic funeral in Rome    Massive explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port injures over 500 people    SFDA clears first 44-ton medical shipment for Hajj pilgrims    Over 13 million worshipers pray at Rawdah Sharif in a year    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



World trade to rebound 9.5% in 2010
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 03 - 2010

World trade will grow by nearly 10 percent this year, rebounding strongly from the economic crisis and shrugging off halting progress in the eight-year-old Doha round, World Trade Organization figures showed on Friday.
The WTO said the volume of merchandise trade would expand by 9.5 percent after dropping 12.2 percent in 2009, the biggest contraction in more than 70 years.
The forecast growth this year comprises 7.5 percent for developed countries and 11 percent for developing countries, it said in a statement.
The outlook came as WTO's 153 members decided to push on with negotiations in the Doha round, launched in late 2001 to free up global commerce and help poor countries prosper through more trade, but tacitly dropped a 2010 deadline for a deal and set no new timetable.
“Although we have made some progress since 2008, there is no denying the fact that we are not where we wanted to be by now,” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a meeting of the WTO's Trade Negotiations Committee.
Lamy told a news conference that no members had called for a suspension of the Doha round.
And he said the revival in world trade this year in the face of continuing protectionist pressures showed the value of the global trading system, which the Doha talks were intended to bring up to date.
The committee meeting caps a week of intensive talks joined by senior officials from national capitals, which many members had hoped would be an opportunity to clinch an outline Doha deal when it was called at a WTO ministerial conference in December.
Several senior trade diplomats said there was a danger that continuing the negotiations without a deadline could amount to a suspension of the talks by stealth.
Others said that dropping fixed dates and calls for ministerial meetings injected some realism into the talks, which were likely to take two or more years to complete.
Lamy declined to comment on the 2010 deadline, saying it was a matter for the G20 leaders who had set it.
Where the gaps in positions are clear - as with farm subsidies - Lamy said the talks must focus on preparing options for ministers to take the political decisions to close them.
But where there is no agreement on the size of the gaps - for instance in opening up trade in manufactured goods - negotiators need to do more technical work to get the issues to a stage where they can propose political options, he said.
In value terms, trade contracted by 23 percent to $12.5 trillion in 2009 from $16.1 trillion in 2008, the WTO said.
Trade in services, for which there was no 2010 forecast, contracted by 13 percent in 2009 to $3.3 trillion, it said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.