END  PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/341
13 May 2003
(03-2536)
COHERENCE
Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the World Trade
Organization, Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the International
Monetary Fund, and James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank
group, made the following statement on the occasion of the WTO
General Council meeting on coherence, in Geneva on 13 May 2003
1. At this critical time, political commitment to multilateralism in economic policymaking is
more important than ever to enable all countries to share in the prosperity that globalisationoffers, and to ensure that a more prosperous and equitable world beco mes a more stable and
secure world as well.
2. Over the past few years, governments have agreed on such ambitious initiatives to
support development as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, the Doha Development Agenda and the Monterrey Consensus on Financing forDevelopment.  The level of ambition is commensurate with the scale of the challenges the worldfaces in each of these areas.  Lowering our sights is not an option in any of them.  Nor can any ofthe aims be achieved in isolation because lack  of progress in one area makes progress in the
others far more difficult.  Recognising that th e policies that governments promote through the
WTO, the IMF and the World Bank are inter-connected is essential if the world is to achievesustained economic growth, sustainable developm ent, poverty reduction and financial stability.
3. The economic interests of developing countries lie at the heart of the Doha Round.  That is
why we share a deep sense of concern about delays  that have arisen in the Doha market access
negotiations.  Pledges of action are no longer sufficient.  We appeal to heads of Government at theforthcoming G-8 Summit to provide the political guidance that is needed to allow the trade
negotiations to move forward again before the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún in
September.  Political opinion in the G-8 needs to appreciate fully the value of liberalising worldtrade, particularly in agriculture – a sector of critical importance to development.  Trade is vital notonly for the direct benefits it brings, but also  for increasing the flows of financial and real
investment resources to developing countries which generate the income growth and jobopportunities that help raise people out of poverty and make economies more resilient to shocks.
Bold action now to reinforce long-term growth fundamentals through freer trade will boost
confidence and help to strengthen the emerging economic recovery.  By pulling together in amultilateral context the G-8 will help to maintain the momentum of structural economic reformover the longer term in developed and developing countries alike.
4. In today's meeting of the WTO General Council we have been discussing how to better
integrate trade, development and finance. The WTO, the IMF and the World Bank are cooperatingto support the full engagement of developing count ries in global trade negotiations to produce an
outcome that favours the expansion of their trade.  Better market access for developing countries’
exports is essential for raising and sustaining thei r economic growth and reducing poverty.  At the
same time, developing countries need to place trade integration as a central plank of their
development and poverty-reduction strategies.  Thes e efforts must be backed up by more focused
and generous technical and financial support particularly for the poorest countries to help thembuild the human, institutional and physical capital needed to improve trade opportunities and tointegrate the poorest countries successfully into the world economy.