Regional Trade Strategy Meeting
The Battle of Hong Kong Continues
February 28 ­ March 1, 2006
Bangkok, Thailand

At the 6th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization last December 2005,the big trading superpowers with the help of Brasil and India, were able to pull out a deal at the last minute, which, if fully implemented, will be severely detrimental to the majority of the world¹s peoples. The deal in Hong Kong has given the multilateral institution new momentum and if unchallenged, the WTO will be able to conclude the Doha Development Round by the end of 2006. And the first major opportunity for us to affect these negotiations is at the next General Council Meeting in Geneva this May 2006.

But even before the General Council, there is a lot of work to be done, at the national, regional and international levels, including organizing around the April 30 deadline for the Agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations.

Regional Trade Strategy Meeting

It is with this urgency that we are organizing a Regional Trade Strategy Meeting this February 28 to March 1, 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand. The date and venue is timed to take advantage of the presence of several regional and international organizations and movements in Bangkok who will be attending the planning meeting for the World Social Forum-Asia in Thailand.

This Regional Trade Strategy Meeting is envisioned to be a re-grouping of the movements and coalitions after the Hong Kong Ministerial to discuss and analyze the results of the Ministerial and to plot the next steps forward in order to prevent the bad deal from Hong Kong from being implemented and the Round from being concluded at the end of 2006. This meeting also aims to strengthen the alliances among the groups and movements in the region.

This meeting follows from the previous successful regional meetings in Bangkok in 2003 and 2004 and also follows on the success of other region wide meetings in 2005 such as the Colombo meeting and the strategy meeting in Busan, Korea. This meeting hopes to continue this regional process and strengthen it.

This meeting is open to all trade activists, organizations, movements and national and regional coalitions. The organizers however, unfortunately cannot provide any support for travel assistance or local accommodation.

Organizers

This meeting is jointly organized by:
 
Assembly of the Poor, Thailand
ATTAC Japan
Equations
Focus on the Global South
FSPI, Indonesia
FTA Watch Thailand
Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU)
Institute for Global Justice, Indonesia
Jubilee South/ Asia Pacific
Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
Kilusang Mangingisda (KM)
Migrant Forum in Asia
National Confederation of Officers Associations of Central Public Sector Undertakings, India
Stop the New Round! Coalition, Philippines
Via Campesina, South Asia
Womyn¹s Agenda for Change, Cambodia
 

ENDORSERS
 
This meeting is also endorsed by:
 
BanglaPraxis, Bangladesh
CORE Centre for Organization Research and Education, India
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
Jubilee South Africa
Korean Peoples Action Against WTO and FTA (KoPA)
Labour Education Foundation, Pakistan
Labor Party Pakistan
National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (India)
River Basin Friends (NE) India

To endorse this meeting and for more information, please contact:
Mary Lou Malig of Focus on the Global South: [email protected]