November 15, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 04, 1428

GENEVA, Nov 14: Developing states trade ministers will meet in Geneva on Thursday amid increasing pessimism on chances for a breakthrough in multilateral trade liberalisation talks at the WTO.

Eight ministers from the G20 group of countries, including India, South Africa, Argentina and Tanzania, will meet at the behest of Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who is the country’s chief trade negotiator.

“It’s probably one of the last chances for our collective voices to be not only heard but listened to,” Amorim told reporters when the meeting was first announced last month.

The six year-old Doha round of talks on cutting trade barriers to agriculture, industrial goods and services is still deadlocked despite a flurry of talks at WTO headquarters in Geneva.—AFP