Round. We are currently working on an interim
report that will be released at the World Economic
Forum in Davos by Merkel, Cameron and the
Indonesian President. We’re hoping to galvanise and
push the Doha Round over the line.
The Doha Round has taken ten years
so far. What are the major challenges in
bringing it over the line?
WTO represents. If it fails, it will have the opposite
effect. We won’t have the opportunity to make the
profits which I’ve referred to and the damage to the
multilateral system will be serious.
You are also the UN Special
Representative to the Secretary
General with regard to migration and
development.
There are final compromises required by virtually
everybody. Many are holding rigid positions, even
though the current state of the negotiations, i.e.
what’s already on the table is sufficient to provide
significant positives for everybody, both developing
and developed economies alike. But people are
holding out for more than they should demand and
looking to try to achieve that little bit more at the
perceived expense of somebody else. It’s political
will that is required now – the absence of political
will and global leadership is the problem. I think
that Merkel and Cameron are trying to give that
through this initiative. There has to be a deadline.
We are arguing that the deadline should be the end
of this year, and should be rigidly enforced. That
recommendation will be in the report that’s coming
out at Davos.
Yes, Kofi Annan, when he was Secretary General
of the UN, asked me to take on the role. He was
concerned that there was no forum for dialogue
with regard to issues of migration in developed and
developing countries. The process is concerned
with how developing countries can be helped, not
merely by the remittances that are sent back which
have been so important to development everywhere,
even in Ireland during the 1950s, but also issues
like the Diaspora affecting home development and
investing at home.
When the Doha Round is finalised, what
effect will it have?
Over 100 countries have been engaged. We
have tried to develop issues too around circular
migration. How to improve remittance flows, reduce
the cost of remittances, how to deal with the human
rights of migrants in the countries of destination
and so on. I found that extremely interesting and
enjoyable, and will continue to do so for some
time. I have just been reappointed by the current
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to continue this
work for another year.
On the positive side, it will immediately bring an
addition to the global economy of something in the
order of $700 billion per year through additional
trade flows. It will create a positive dynamic that
will combat the negative protectionism that is
becoming prevalent in some parts of the world.
It will reinforce the rule based system that the
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In 2006 I spoke at the UN General Assembly on the
topic – I have a small secretariat working for me in
Geneva and Brussels, and in New York. We’ve had
successive conferences in Geneva, Athens, Manilla
and in Mexico.