The reduction of trade tariffs between developing countries will be one of the themes discussed during the 2nd Summit of the South, meeting of ministers and heads of state of the developing nations, which will take place between next Sunday (12) and the 16th of June, in Doha, capital city of Qatar.
The meeting will gather representatives from China and the 132 members of the G-77, group of the less developed countries related to the United Nations Organization (UN).
According to information from the Itamaraty, the Brazilian foreign office, at the meeting, it will be made an evaluation of the advances made since the first summit, which took place in 2000, in Havana, Cuba.
One of the themes discussed at the time was indeed the application of the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) to reduce trade tariffs between the developing countries.
The last negotiation round for the GSTP happened during the 23rd United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), last June in São Paulo. According to the Itamaraty, the agreement should be concluded and operational by 2006.
Today, some rich nations already import determined quotas of products at reduced tariffs from the poorer nations. The idea is to implement a similar system, however with global and general rules, amongst the nations of the South.
Cooperation amongst the developing nations will be one of the central matters of the summit, which should also result in a joint political declaration and an action plan to give continuity to the measures discussed and implemented as of Havana.
According to information from the Itamaraty, combating poverty and hunger in the developing countries should also be part of the agenda of the 2nd Summit of the South.
The theme should be launched by Brazil, whose delegation will be led by the minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim.
The developing countries should take the opportunity to define positions for the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to take place in December this year, in Hong Kong, and the meeting for high-level employees at the UN, which will take place in September, in the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
Qatar
The meeting for heads of state will take place in Qatar between the 14th and 16th of June.
The agenda for the meeting, however, will start on the 12th with the meeting for high-level employees, and follows on the next day with the Foreign Relations Ministers of the countries involved.
The summit activities will take place at the Sheraton Hotel, 5 kilometers away from downtown Doha.
Qatar, the country hosting the meeting, is one of the members of the G-77. Located in the Arabic Gulf, its population is of approximately 743,000 inhabitants.
About 83% of the population lives in Doha. The official religion in the country is Islamism and the language spoken is Arabic.
ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency – www.anba.com.br
