Mutual benefits: WTO Director General Pascal Lamy reminds delegates to an NGO roundtable that no poor nation has ever grown rich without trade, as Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Trade John Tsang looks on.

Trade is increasingly seen as one of the best means for alleviating poverty in developing countries and for supporting stable economic growth in the developed world, said WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy, on a recent visit to Hong Kong, ahead of the WTO Sixth Ministerial Conference.

Addressing non-governmental organisations' concern about globalisation, the former European Commission Trade Commissioner reminded them that no poor nation has ever grown rich without trade.

It is fitting that the upcoming conference would take place in Hong Kong, he said, noting people here have a history of overcoming challenges. From its humble origins as a fishing village and fortress, the once 'barren rock' has emerged as Asia's world city.

How? Hong Kong has few natural resources, but it boasts a spectacular harbour and enterprising, hardworking residents who have always embraced the free flow of trade. As a result, the Gross Domestic Product  - $234.5 billion in 2004 - is exceeded by both gross exports, valued at $268.1 billion, and gross imports, worth $275.9 billion.

Enhanced competition created by trade stimulates innovation, keeps prices in check and leads to new job creation. Around the world, trade allows resources to be allocated efficiently, boosting overall welfare gains. Open nations enjoy higher economic growth and development levels than those which close their doors to trade.

The WTO succeeded the GATT, or General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade, which was created in 1947 to establish a fair, transparent and predictable basis for international trade.

GATT was borne of the Great Depression and the Second World War - a time when countries mistakenly believed that they could solve their problems by living in isolation. US tariffs had risen to their highest levels ever, setting in motion a trade war.

The result was a sharp decline in global trade, and a loss of welfare of massive proportions. From the mistakes of our past came an important lesson for our future: We need multilateral institutions to make the world a more orderly place. That is why it is in everyone's interests - especially those from developing nations -  to strengthen the WTO, Mr Lamy stressed.

The importance of the MC6 meeting, from December 13 to 18, is difficult to overstate, he said. Hong Kong is not just another port of call for these negotiations. It is the WTO's best opportunity to bring the Doha Development Round of negotiations to its conclusion by the end of 2006. For this round to succeed, the Hong Kong meeting must bring members two-thirds of the way to consensus.

Even after the Ministerial Conference, much hard work remains in translating members' promises into binding commitments in the WTO.

Reaching an ambitious and balanced result in Hong Kong in the areas of industrial tariffs and agriculture - including cotton - will galvanise work in other areas, including services, trade and environment, intellectual property and rules including anti-dumping and trade facilitation.

The members' goal should be to work together to make the organisation better reflect their aspirations. Some of the WTO's greatest flaws, like its slow pace of negotiations, stem from its most positive attributes. If the WTO was not democratic, the Doha Round may have been finished by now. But the WTO is a "consensus"-based body; only when consensus fails does it resort to a vote.

With its total of 148 member governments, the WTO votes on the basis of one country, one vote. In so doing, it balances the interests of the big and the small, the rich and the poor.

Every single developing country has asked for greater market access, and rules that are more fair and balanced, Mr Lamy said. Opening markets to products of export interest to developing countries is the greatest contribution the WTO can make to a country's development. But imports are just as healthy for a country's economy as exports. Through greater competition, countries become more efficient. Imports make them more competitive and enable them to export. So imports and exports are really two sides of the same coin.

Rules that reduce trade distortion in sectors of interest to developing countries, and that simplify and improve customs procedures - "trade facilitation" measures - are also high on developing countries' agenda.

Perhaps the most important ingredient of the Doha Round of negotiations is agriculture, though, owing to its importance to developing nations: 73% of the poor in these places live in rural areas.

Developing countries will also need greater market access for their industrial goods, services and ideas. Results of this round must help them meet their aspirations. Specific concerns vary from country to country, but some points are common. Trade-distorting agricultural subsidies must be cut, and export subsidies must be eliminated.

Special and differential treatment must be extended to developing countries and special rules and procedures must be in place for the Least Developed Countries, the poorest WTO members.

To help developing countries gain more opportunity from the trading system, they need greater market access opportunities in other developing countries. More than a third of global trade is now between developing countries and this figure is rising. In those areas where tariffs are highest, hefty cuts can present new trade opportunities to boost economic growth and development.

Special and differential treatment, in the form of longer implementation periods, or lower reduction commitments, is key to developing countries' ability to implement any new rules. Special and differential treatment alone will not deliver developmental benefits for a country, though. This treatment reminds other members that developing countries approach WTO negotiations from a different starting point.

To help developing countries benefit more quickly, a substantial "Aid for Trade" package has been mooted. It would help boost their trade capacity while slashing commercial transaction costs. Theoretical trade gains would translate into real ones.

Aid for trade could help improve their supply-side capacity, improve customs procedures and help them take advantage of the new opportunities that will flow from a Doha deal. All members must work together to translate improvements in market access into realities for developing countries.

Services represent a critical piece of the Doha puzzle for many members, including Hong Kong. In many developed countries, the service sector produces more than 70% of output and employment. Now negotiators from developing countries have taken an interest in the services sector, seeing it as a stimulus for growth and innovation.

Progress in agriculture and industrial tariffs will unlock services negotiations and lead to good offers at the December conference. There is no possibility of reaching an agreement in this round without a healthy services component.

WTO members are seriously discussing fundamental changes to the global trading system.  Mr Lamy believes there is a reason they will succeed: None of the WTO member governments wants the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference to fail.

As he noted on his recent visit here, no one will come out of this round with everything they sought.

"At the same time there is also a zone where meagreness doesn't fly. It's like a plane, you need some speed to fly. You can reduce speed, but there comes a zone where the speed is insufficient to give you the lift you need and - BOOM! - you fall," he said.

"The question to ask about any Doha agreement is not whether it gives you everything you sought. The question is more, Are we better off today as a result of this agreement than we were before it was reached?"

Developing countries need look no further than the host government, Hong Kong, to realise the answer may well be a resounding "Yes."