The Doha Development Agenda: Reflections on the Road Ahead

From 9 to 14 November 2001, Qatar hosted the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a new trade round, the successor to the Uruguay round, was successfully launched in Doha. This was by no means a foregone conclusion and was a major feat. The outcome of the Doha Ministerial Conference was in doubt until the very end. Failure at Doha to resolve the issues left over from the inconclusive Seattle Ministerial Conference of 1999 would have seriously weakened the WTO and threatened the future of the multilateral trading system. In this article, WTO Director-General Mike Moore, describes the steps taken in a more transparent and inclusive preparatory process for the Doha meeting and the key achievements of the new round--the Doha Development Agenda. He concludes that as a ''member-driven'' organization, all WTO members share joint responsibility for a successful and inclusive multilateral trading system and describes the current preparations being made for the conclusion of the new round by the three-year time-frame, as agreed by ministers.