From The Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference to the Suspension of the Negotiations

This paper makes an assessment of the WTO Doha Negotiations from the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference until the suspension of the Doha Round at the end of July 2006. The paper analyses the events from a development perspective distinguishing between the perspectives of two broad groups of developing countries; the first that have an interest in an ambitious outcome in the agriculture negotiations; and a second group of developing countries that constitute the least developed and other small, weak and vulnerable economies. The paper concludes by arguing that the suspension of the Doha Round, and the almost certain extension of the round beyond 2006, means that the prospects for the development outcomes of the round to be realized have been postponed once again for both the above groups of developing countries.