OPEN INVITATION
REGIONAL TRADE STRATEGY MEETING
Preventing the Revival of the Doha Round
9am-6pm, December 9, 2006
Cebu City, Philippines
*Interested participants are requested to please register beforehand so logistics can be arranged accordingly
The collapse of the talks of the Doha Round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization last July was the best possible outcome for developing countries. The Doha Round of negotiations had gone so far from being about development and it was clear that what the big trading powers wanted was more market access and special and differential treatment for them. Social movements, national campaigns and people the world over then celebrated this collapse as a victory for the majority of world’s peoples.
This victory however is in danger of being overturned. After weeks of “quiet
diplomacy” Pascal Lamy announces in an informal Heads of Delegations meeting
in Geneva that there will be “a soft resumption” of the Doha talks. Although
the details remain unclear, one thing is evident – that it is with great
urgency that social movements, NGOs, national campaigns and activists have
to move fast to prevent the revival of this Doha Round and worse, its
possible conclusion in the next few months.
At the same time, there is a rise of bilateral and regional FTAs plaguing
the region. Now, more than ever, is the time to bring together the different
campaigns around FTAs and the WTO and support and strengthen each other.
REGIONAL TRADE STRATEGY MEETING
It is with this urgency that we are organizing a Regional Trade Strategy
Meeting this December 9, 2006 in Cebu, Philippines. The date and venue is
timed to take advantage of the presence of several regional and
international organizations and movements in Cebu, Philippines who will be
attending the ASEAN Summit and civil society events from December 9-13.
This Regional Trade Strategy Meeting is envisioned to be a re-grouping of
the movements and coalitions after the re-launching of the suspended Doha
talks, to discuss and analyze the new situation and to plot the next steps
forward in order to prevent the conclusion of the Round before April, the
new deadline of the talks which is when the Fast Track Authority of the US
expires.
This meeting follows from the previous successful regional meetings in
Bangkok in 2003, 2004 and most recently in February of 2006 and also follows
on the success of other region wide meetings in 2005 in Colombo, South Korea
and Hong Kong. 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.
Interested participants are requested to please register beforehand so
logistics can be arranged accordingly
ORGANIZERS
This meeting is jointly organized by:
ATTAC Japan
Federation of Indonesian Peasant Union (FSPI)
Focus on the Global South
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 (Fisherfolk Movement-Philippines)
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
Migrant Forum in Asia
Stop the New Round! Coalition, Philippines
Womyn’s Agenda for Change, Cambodia
*To register for this meeting or for more information, please contact:
Mary Lou Malig of Focus on the Global South: [email protected]
