TRADE TALKS ALONE WILL NOT HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES -- REAL PROGRESS ALSO NEEDED ON THE GROUND, SAYS UNCTAD CHIEF

Whatever happens at the current round of trade negotiations, "it will not mean much for developing countries unless it is accompanied by real progress on the ground", Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, told Arab trade ministers meeting in Amman today to prepare for the WTO Hong Kong Conference. Responsibility for such progress lay with developed and developing countries alike, he said, and on finding global solutions to global problems.