Warwick Commission visit Delhi to consult Indian experts
The Warwick Commission recently travelled to New Delhi to meet with Indian trade experts, policy makers and business leaders as part of the Commission’s year-long investigation into the future of the multilateral trading system.
The Warwick Commission held a series of events in Delhi including a Plenary Conference hosted by Warwick University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Thrift.
The keynote speaker was Shri Anwarul Hoda, Member of the Planning Commission of India who spoke about India’s experiences of the multilateral trading system.
Indian trade experts were also invited to a special meeting of the Commission to discuss Indian priorities for the world trade system. Professor Richard Higgott, a trade governance specialist at the University of Warwick and Director of the Warwick Commission said, “The Warwick Commission has learned a lot about Indian perceptions of the world trade system and its report will be the better for that.”
Shri Pradeep Mehta, the founding Secretary General of CUTS International, and a Warwick Commissioner, Chaired the meeting. He said, “The Warwick Commission will be making proposals which it believes would create a fairer global trade system, one in which the huge benefits generated by world trade would be shared more equally than at present.”
At the Plenary Conference, keynote speaker Shri Anwarul Hoda spoke about India’s experiences of the multilateral trading system and illustrated his country’s emergence as a powerful voice within the WTO by referring to his own participation in the process of trade policy development in India and in the negotiations which have resulted in the current global trade governance regime.
The Conference also heard Dr Patrick Low, Director of Research at the WTO and a member of the Warwick Commission, give a report of the Commission’s work. Dr Low emphasised the Warwick Commission’s hope that its report will make a real contribution to the inevitable debate about the future of the world’s trading system.
The meeting in Delhi was the second overseas meeting of the Warwick Commission who also visited Toronto, Canada in June 2007. The Commission have now taken evidence from experts on both sides of the Atlantic and have considered the results of its survey of 250 experts from around the globe.
These consultations will influence the Warwick Commission’s report, which will be presented at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) headquarters in Geneva, in December 2007.