Trade mins discuss priorities for WTO's June meet

Davos: Trade ministers from 35 member countries of the WTO, including Piyush Goyal from India, met here on the sidelines of the WEF 2020 to discuss priorities and preparations for the June ministerial meeting of the global trade body.

The informal gathering of the WTO members and the WTO General Director Roberto Azevedo was held on Friday at the invitation of Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin.

The group met to discuss and define their priorities for the 12th WTO ministerial conference to be held from 8 to 11 June 2020, at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan, a post-meeting statement said.

It said the meeting on the fringes of WEF Davos summit was attended by 35 members of the WTO, who represent a wide spectrum of trade policy interests.

The ministers discussed their priorities with regard to ongoing WTO activities and processes.

High up on the agenda were negotiations on fisheries subsidies and current efforts to reform the WTO, including further developing the existing framework of WTO rules, to improve transparency in the implementation of WTO agreements and proposals for restoring the Appellate Body of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.