A successful agreement in the Doha round is within reach, but it could slip through our fingers unless a handful of major developed and developing countries demonstrate their willingness to confront difficult choices. If this once-in-a-generation opportunity is missed, the price would be paid primarily by the poorest people on the planet.

Last month, leaders of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation economies – developed and developing, representing almost half of world trade – met at the Apec summit in Sydney. All 21 pledged to exercise “the political will, flexibility and ambition to ensure that the Doha round negotiations enter their final phase” and called on their trading partners to do the same.