Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday voiced his willingness to make contributions to the signing of a world trade agreement by September.
During a telephone coversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lula said he is willing to do everything he can to facilitate such an agreement.
Lula urged the Indian leader to resume the stalled Doha Round talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Singh, for his part, told Lula that he was disappointed at the result of the WTO trade talks in Geneva in July.
However, it was just a temporary setback rather than a failure, said Singh.
Singh reaffirmed India's position on keeping tariff on certain products, a policy which became one of the main contentious points that led to the collapse of the July talks.
Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who was Brazil's main negotiator in Geneva, said Lula felt that there remained a small chance of concluding the Doha Round talks.
In an interview with French daily "Le Monde" published on Tuesday, Amorim said negotiations should be resumed as soon as possible.
"The lack of an agreement will mostly affect developing countries," he said.
The Doha Round of trade talks started in 2001 with the aim of reducing global poverty by giving developing countries more access to world markets. The latest negotiations collapsed in Geneva on July 29 after nine days of intensive talks.
|