Ministers from G20 developing countries and wealthy industrialised states agreed on Saturday to work harder to finish the complicated negotiations needed to change trade rules in favour of the poor. The trade ministers will up the frequency of their meetings and get more involved in negotiations themselves in an attempt to bridge differences on freeing agricultural trade and opening markets for services and industrial goods. "It is a starting point to give momentum, it is a political push," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said after a meeting of trade negotiators from the European Union, the United States, other Western governments and the poorer G20 countries. Negotiators hoped to outline steps to keep the Doha trade round on track, with the goal of having a draft deal ready by the meeting of the World Trade Organisation's 148 members in Hong Kong in December. EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said the ministers had put in place a series of negotiating milestones on the road to Hong Kong. "The ministers showed their commitment. The timeframe is to have real progress by July," said WTO chief Supachai Panitchpadki. --More 2123 Local Time 1823 GMT
