United Nations Radio

This weekend, Doha must send a clear signal of the urgency of delivering on trade and on aid.

That's what the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) told Saturday's high-level session of the UN Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development.

Pascal Lamy (photo) warns that in the current economic conditions, there may be a tendency to embrace inward-looking policies that put domestic interests ahead of international cooperation:

"The community of the United Nations meeting this weekend in Doha can send a powerful message to the world: that we stand united to address these challenges; that we will strive to find multilateral solutions; that we will avoid unilateral, beggar-thy-neighbor responses; that we will maintain our commitment to help the poorest and the weakest among us."

The WTO chief says there is no better place to reaffirm a commitment to ensuring that development is placed at the heart of the global trading system than here in Doha where it all began.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio, Doha.

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