By Daniel Pruzin The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
Thursday October 11, 2001
GENEVA--Qatari officials have ruled out the idea of postponing the World Trade Organization's fourth ministerial conference slated to take place in Qatar's capital, Doha, from Nov. 9-13.
Speculation is rife among trade diplomats in Geneva that the Doha meeting may have to be postponed or cancelled because of rising tensions in the region resulting from the U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan.
Qatari officials in Geneva to brief trade diplomats on preparations for the ministerial told BNA Oct. 10 that the ministerial is going ahead as planned and that there is no question of putting off the Doha meeting for a later date.
Any decision to postpone the meeting would mean that the WTO will have to find another host city, they suggested. Ramadan, the Muslim month-long period of fasting, starts in mid-November, with the Christmas and New Year holidays following. After that, organizers will run into problems with accommodations.
One official said that many of the villas in Doha which are being offered to house ministerial participants have been rented on a six-month basis by the Qatari government through the end of the year. After that, the government will be hard-pressed to round up the minimum number of rooms needed. "By then, we will have run out of money," the official explained.
The Qatar government has budgeted between $15-20 million to host the WTO ministerial and expects to only recoup a fraction of that amount from trade diplomats, journalists and non-governmental organizations attending the event. Cancellation would be a severe setback to the country's hotel and tourism industry, which is already reeling from the impacts of the terrorist attacks in the United States and the retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan.
Qatar was the only WTO member which offered to host the fourth ministerial following the disastrous Seattle gathering in 1999. Chile had also considered hosting the event but later backed out, citing financial constraints.
U.S. Committed
Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, received assurances from U.S. officials during a recent visit to Washington that they were committed to see the WTO ministerial go ahead as planned, the Qatari officials said. They also said that they have received no word from either the WTO Secretariat or from any of the WTO's 142 member countries that the organization was being asked to reconsider its decision to go to Doha.
Rumors have been circulating that the Swiss government has been quietly asked to prepare Geneva as a last-minute backup for a November ministerial should the situation in the Middle East deteriorate, but Swiss officials have denied any knowledge of such preparations. As the home country for the WTO, Switzerland would be obliged to host the ministerial meeting if asked to do so.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said Sept. 25 that security was the first concern for the United States in regards to the Doha meeting. Qatari officials noted that 5,000 police officers will be on hand to ensure the safety at the meeting and that their government will be consulting with other governments on their security arrangements in the run-up to the ministerial.
Some trade diplomats have warned that postponing the ministerial could be a serious setback for efforts to launch a new round of trade talks, which is set to figure prominently on the Doha agenda.
"If the meeting is postponed, all the momentum we have succeeded in generating will be lost," warned a senior Japanese official, adding that he believed members were on track to reach a deal on the launch of a round in Doha.:
