Ministers from nearly 150 member states of the World Trade Organisation will meet in Hong Kong over the next several days to push for the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations by the end of 2006.

This round must succeed. It has the potential to be historic. Not only does it aim at more ambitious levels of trade liberalisation than previous rounds but, more importantly, it embraces enhanced integration of developing nations into the WTO system as equal beneficiaries and participants, rather than allowing them to be further marginalised or alienated by the flourishing regional trade agreements. Today, developing nations account for four-fifths of all WTO members.