IMF, World Bank, OECD heads stress importance of Doha Round

Heads of IMF, World Bank and OECD have issued a joint declaration underlining responsibility of all nations to make the Doha Round a success.

Ahead of the Cancun WTO Ministerial, heads of the IMF, World Bank and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development have issued a joint declaration underlining the responsibility of the developed and developing countries to make the Doha Round a success.

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"Trade is a driving force for economic expansion in developed and developing countries alike. Promoting the growth of trade is essential for global economic prosperity. And the Doha negotiations are a central pillar of the global strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," IMF's Horst Kwhler, World Bank's James D Wolfensohn and OECD's Donald J Johnston said in the declaration on Thursday.

Next week, trade ministers will gather at Cancun to advance the Doha Development Agenda.

They carry with them the aspirations of millions of people around the globe whose hopes for economic advancement rest on opportunities in the global economy and find out a strategy to reduce poverty by giving poor people the opportunity to help themselves.

"Ambitions for Cancun must be commensurate with these objectives. We need a decisive break with trade policies that hurt economic development," it said.

Donors cannot provide aid to create development opportunities with one hand and then use trade restrictions to take these opportunities away with the other-and expect that their development dollars will be effective.