July 25, 2008	Friday	Rajab 21, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 24: Pre-empting his expected ouster, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dr Manzoor Ahmad has resigned at a time when the seven-year-old Doha Development Agenda is nearing completion.

Dr Manzoor, who belongs to the customs group, was appointed as the country’s first ambassador to the WTO in 2002.

“The government has accepted the resignation of Dr Manzoor and he will leave office by July 31,” an official told Dawn.

Several officials are in the run for the post but a summary submitted to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat proposes the name of Qasim Niaz of the district management group.

Dr Manzoor was given a two-year extension after he had attained the age of superannuation in September 2007.

He was chairman of the WTO Council for Trips (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) and he had also headed its committee on balance-of-payments restrictions.

“I have resigned because I have been offered a senior position in Geneva with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),” he told Dawn.

In his new role, he will head FAO’s liaison office and represent it at the United Nations, World Trade Organisation and other international organisations, as well as the Swiss government.

Dr Manzoor said the FAO was a specialised UN agency providing technical expertise on issues relating to food, agriculture and fisheries. With a sharp increase in prices, the food products import was expected to pass $1,000 billion and the organisation had assumed a very important role, he added.

Replying to a question about the WTO talks currently under way in Geneva, he said: “We are still not sure if we will be able to finalise the modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access.”