Project Launch Meeting: WTO Doha Round & South Asia: Linking Civil Society with Trade Negotiations

Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 9-10, 2005

CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE), in association with Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Sri Lanka and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE), and supported by NOVIB (OXFAM, The Netherlands), organised the launch meeting of the Project: WTO Doha Round & South Asia: Linking Civil Society with Trade Negotiations. The meeting was held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, on March 9-10, 2005.

The project has been taken up with the background that the outcome of the Doha Round will have significant implications on international trade and national development. This is more so for developing countries, as international trade is increasingly linked with livelihoods and associated national development (poverty reduction) strategies. Therefore, it is important for South Asian countries to have common negotiating positions in the ongoing Doha Round of negotiations.

Given this context, the project is focusing on the five key elements of July Framework Agreement on which the Doha Round of negotiations will progress: agriculture; non-agricultural market access; development dimensions; services; and trade facilitation. The launch meeting discussed the five issues of the July framework and helped in cross- fertilisation of experiences and lessons learnt on international trade and national development between South Asian Countries and in establishing linkage between the civil society organisations and research institutions in order to enhance the consultation process while developing appropriate policy responses during the implementation of the project.

Representatives from research institutes, government, civil society, business, academic, and media attended the event from five south Asian countries.