Nigeria for trade talks, but wary of open market access

NEW DELHI - Expressing confidence that the Doha round of talks would conclude before the December 2010 deadline, Nigeria Thursday said it would however make sure that its interests were “not killed”.

“We want to see the rounds to conclude but not at all cost. We have to make sure that local industry is not killed. We do not want our domestic industry to suffer due to open market access,” said Nigerian Commerce Minister Achike Udenwa at the mini-ministerial meeting of the 153-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) here.

Referring to cotton subsidies, Udenwa said: “This is something that other countries have an interest in. Even African countries have interest in cotton and we have been trying to raise it at this forum.”

Earlier in the day, Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid too had called for early resolution of issues concerning global cotton trade, which remained an important crop for several countries in the continent.

“Suffice to mention that one of the most important issues for Africa, cotton was not even discussed during the July 2008 mini-ministerial,” Rachid had told the mini-ministerial meeting.

The Nigerian minister, who was among 40 trade ministers invited by India for the two-day conference, appreciated India for holding the mini-ministerial talks, saying such meetings would give push to the conclusion of Doha round of trade talks.

“Indias initiative is going to push Doha round to conclusion, he said, adding: But this doesnt mean that we will have issues resolved at this meeting.