THE TTALK QUOTES 

On Global Trade & Investment

 

Published Three Times a Week By

The Global Business Dialogue, Inc.

Washington, DC   Tel: 202-463-5074

Email: [email protected]

 

No. 82 of  2015

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Filed from Portland, Oregon

Click here for last Friday's quote from UPS on Trade Facilitation. 
NAIROBI IN OVERTIME

"It's quite improbable that we finish this conference today, as planned.  Many of us have rebooked our flights for the weekend instead."

Cecilia Malmstr�m
December 18, 2015
CONTEXT
Ms. Malmstr�m is the EU's Commissioner for Trade, and today's quote is from an entry in her blog, which she posted earlier today from Nairobi, where she is participating in the WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference.  In it she describes agriculture - more specifically agricultural export subsidies - as "the central issue here" and shares the upbeat thought that "a decent agreement is now within reach."  Later she adds:

"If we do not manage to agree here and now, things will indeed look gloomy for the multilateral trading system."

COMMENT
Those lines were written many hours ago.  At this time-4:30 pm on the 18th in Portland, Oregon, and 3:30 am on December 19th in Nairobi.  The deal-or-no-deal question in Commissioner Maelstrom's blog will be answered very soon, if it hasn't been already.   Whatever the outcome on agriculture or on the future of the Doha Round, it's worth remembering that, with the conclusion of the expanded Information Technology Agreement, the Nairobi Ministerial has already chalked up one very big win. 

We'll revisit all of these issues next week.  In the meantime,

ENJOY THE WEEKEND!

And if you're in Nairobi: Safe Travels! And, get some rest!
SOURCES & LINKS
Endgame in Nairobi is a link to the December 18 blog entry from Cecilia Malmstr�m that was the source for today's quote.

 

 

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