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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Eric Thomas, The Fratelli Group |
| February 14, 2006 |
202-822-9491 |
Business Community Cites Urgent Need for
Progress in Services:
"Collective Requests" for Liberalization Due February 28
Washington, D.C. - The American Business Coalition for Doha
(ABCDoha) expressed concern today that the services negotiations
continue to lag far behind the other key areas under negotiation
in the Doha Round. Ministers in Hong Kong laid out a timetable
to put the Doha Round on track for conclusion in 2006. ABCDoha
calls on negotiators to redouble their efforts to move the
services negotiations forward this week in Geneva.
ABCDoha's bottom line is that the Doha Round cannot be considered
a success unless it delivers commitments to meaningful and
comprehensive liberalization across services, manufacturing,
and agricultural trade alike. ABCDoha urges that every negotiating
opportunity be viewed as an important building block toward
meeting the deadlines agreed in Hong Kong.
In this regard, ABCDoha strongly supports the U.S. Administration's
efforts to move the services negotiations forward and calls
upon other countries to:
- Meet the February 28 deadline for submitting requests.
- Contribute serious proposals containing a high standard
of liberalization in key sectors such as distribution services,
financial services, express delivery, telecommunications,
energy, computer and related services, audio visual services,
and legal and professional services.
ABCDoha called on developed countries and the big emerging
market countries in particular to demonstrate more leadership
in the negotiations.
Services liberalization is key to worldwide economic growth.
The World Bank estimates that nearly $900 billion in annual
income gains would accrue to developing countries just from
elimination of their own barriers to trade in services. In
the United States, services comprise one of the most dynamic
and innovative sectors of the U.S. economy, accounting for
80 percent of private employment and a $65 billion trade surplus.
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The American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha and
www.abcdoha.org)
is an umbrella group representing the diverse interests of
service-providers, manufacturers, agriculture, customs facilitators,
and many other stakeholders all dedicated to achieving an
ambitious result from the Doha Round in 2006.
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