High interest rates are starting to moderate. And yet, if a measure of stability has returned to some Asian countries, the global repercussions of the crisis remain. Seemingly every month, growth forecasts for the world economy are revised downward. If the repercussions of the crisis were not worse it was largely because of the strength of the US economy. A fundamental priority is to keep markets open and the trade system functioning smoothly.
Trade is like the circulatory system of the body.
If the blood does not flow, then no amount of medicine will cure the patient. The last year has tested the resilience of the trading system, and governments' commitment to it. So far the trade architecture has tested sound. There has been no backtracking on obligations under the WTO Agreements. Already governments are committed to a very ambitious programme of work - including an assessment of how to improve the implementation of the Uruguay Round commitments, and further negotiations in agriculture, services and aspects of intellectual property.