Egypt will take part in a two-day meeting of representative World Trade Organization (WTO) members that gets under way Friday in Mexico with the aim of averting another failure of efforts to launch a new round of global trade talks, reported AFP.
"The aim is to reduce the differences that remain," said Gerardo Trasloseros, who heads the multinational trade accords' section of the Mexican Economy Ministry.
"This is essential in order to ensure there is no repetition of what happened in Seattle," he said in reference to the last WTO meeting in 1999, which ended in failure amid disagreements between rich and poor countries.
The Mexico gathering comes amid growing tension within the WTO, fueled by disagreements between developed and developing countries, and concerns that a dispute between the United States and Europe could erupt into a full-blown trade war.
Along with Egypt, participants will be from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, the United States and Uruguay, according to the agency – Albawaba.com
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