ICC, in partnership with Qatar Chamber, is mobilizing business on concrete trade and investment proposals for an immediate debt-free stimulus to the world economy that will generate badly-needed growth and jobs. The World Trade Agenda is a global project to engage business to provide a practical approach to reaching agreements in the WTO.
Background
Trade has been a driver of growth and employment for the past 60 years. This engine of the world economy is threatened by the stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (DDA), launched in 2001.
The increase in trade and invesment restrictions fueled by the global economic downturn is damaging the business climate and prospects for recovery. This is occuring precisely when global trade and investment opening could provide a debt-free and much-needed boost to world economic growth.
Businesses produce the goods and services that are traded on a daily basis throughout the world. One of the challenges faced by business is the absence of global rules in many crucial areas. Improving the capacity of the WTO to expand international rules for trade and investment is a necessary condition for creating an effective 21st century rules-based multilateral system that generates economic growth and jobs creation.
Objectives
The World Trade Agenda is a strong business-led initiative to bolster rules-based trade. The WTO lends its support to this initiative by engaging business to provide recommendations to advance global trade negotations. The World Trade Agenda aims to:
- Define multilateral trade negotation priorities for business
- Help governments set a trade policy agenda for the 21st century that contributes to economic growth and job creation
- Find answers to the current economic crisis and drive more effective trade talks
- Set concrete recommendations to advance global trade negotations
- Sound the alarm on protectionism
- Gather input and validation from the global business community on trade agenda priorities and recommendations for achieving a Doha victory.
The voice of business
Global business in uniquely placed to recognize and identify areas where multilateral trade rules have been superceded by 21st century trading realities. Business is also positioned to suggest where innovative solutions to overcome the current obstacles in trade negotations may be found.
CEOs, senior corporate executives, and representatives of business organizations joined WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy at the first World Trade Agenda policy conference in March 2012.
There, participants began defining elements of a world trade agenda, underscoring the private sector's desire to move global trade talks out of the Doha Development Agenda deadlock.
Partnering for a 'Doha victory'
ICC and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce launched WTA to help successfully conclude the round of multilateral trade negotiations that began in Doha, Qatar over a decade ago.
Since the Doha Round was launched, the Qatar Chamber has helped oversee one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economies in the world, thus giving the Qatar Chamber a unique understanding of the rapidly changing macro-economic conditions that now charaterize the current state of multilateral trade negotiations.
ICC and the Qatar Chamber are committed to mobilizing business around the world as one global voice towards one global solution: 'Doha victory'.
Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry