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¡@¡@MANILA, Sept. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The emergence of a new alliance ofmore than 20
developing countries can be considered a positive outcome of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting,Philippine President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo said Tuesday.
¡@¡@"We must now ride the fresh tide of trade politics that is justand fair to
the developing nations and takes into account the welfare of the great majority
of the world's people," Arroyo was quoted as saying in a presidential palace
statement.
¡@¡@She said the emergence of a new alliance of more than 20 developing
countries can be considered a positive outcome of the failed global trade talks
in Cancun, Mexico.
¡@¡@"We shall continue to work with this alliance in order to defend and
preserve the welfare and livelihood of our farmers, fisher folk and all those
who struggle in the margins of our economy," Arroyo said.
¡@¡@"We cannot have political security, both in the national and global sense,
if we cannot ensure economic security at the grassroots. The developing
countries must stick together to upholdthis principle," she added.
¡@¡@The Cancun talks held from Sept. 10 to Sept. 14 failed to reachan agreement
due to differences between the developing countries and the developed countries
on various of farm issues, including the agriculture subsidies issue.
¡@¡@The poor WTO members accused the rich ones of providing 300 billion US
dollars in subsidies each year to protect domestic producers against cheap
imports, and to allow them to export products to regions where farmers are not
subsidized.
¡@¡@At the Cancun meeting, 21 developing countries formed a bloc demanding the
removal of farm subsidies in the developed countries.The United States and
Europe, under unprecedented pressure to showflexibility, said they would open
their markets if the group softened its demands.
¡@¡@The Philippine government said earlier that it
welcomed the collapse of Cancun talks, viewing it as a triumph of joints efforts
by the poor nations to defend their rights, especially in the agricultural
sector. Enditem
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