G20 sees small window to seal WTO Doha deal in 2011

Next year presents a narrow window of opportunity to complete the long-running Doha Round of global trade talks, the G20 said today.

Next year presents a narrow window of opportunity to complete the long-running Doha Round of global trade talks, the G20 said on Friday.

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In a statement released after a two-day summit, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies welcomed what they called the "broader and more substantive" engagement of the past four months among negotiators at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva.

"Bearing in mind that 2011 is a critical window of opportunity, albeit narrow, this engagement must intensify and expand. We now need to complete the end game," the G20 said.

Leaders instructed their negotiators to promptly bring the market-opening talks to a comprehensive and balanced conclusion. World leaders have been issuing such exhortations for several years. The Doha round was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001.