Prometheus 6

Egypt And SA Must Improve WTO Deal
Business Day (Johannesburg)
June 20, 2003
By John Fraser, Trade And Industry Editor
Johannesburg

The developing world has to make its voice heard at this weekend's World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting of trade ministers in Egypt, Egyptian ambassador to SA Hagar Islambouly says.

She said Egypt and SA were working closely to secure a better deal for developing nations, and she warned that there was a need to prevent the US and the European Union from dominating debate.

"The problem is that WTO results are based on trade-offs between the US and the Europeans," she said. "They first agree together, and then get an agreement with the developing world. This is our major concern they negotiate with each other; they don't care about us."