The World Trade Organisation Symposium was held in Seattle at the end of last year. Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development urged the WTO to make this round a development round. This is the speech that she gave to the assembly. It is striking how many lobbying groups and trade unions have come to Seattle. They understand that history is moving under our feet.
Globalisation is a new historical era.
Capital now moves in vast quantities and at great speed across the world, taking knowledge and technology with it. And rapid information flows and new technology bring us closer together. We are now more interdependent than ever before. Crises in one region can affect the global economy as a whole. Globalisation is generating great wealth.