Serious political leadership of all World Trade Organisation member economies is needed to make the sixth Ministerial Conference a milestone on the road to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round, Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology John Tsang says.

Mr Tsang is in Geneva, attending the WTO General Council meeting before the summer break.

Mr Tsang met WTO Director General (Designate), Pascal Lamy, trade ministers from the United States, European Commission and Japan, and the chairs of all the WTO negotiating groups.

He said they all looked forward to a much intensified process after the summer and expressed willingness to work even harder.

Signs of willingness to aim for middle ground

"Much technical work has been completed and we have seen the first, very welcome signs of a willingness to aim actively for the middle ground between previously fixed positions, although the progress we made before the summer break has not been as good as we had expected," Mr Tsang said in an address to the meeting.

"What is needed now is serious political leadership on the part of all our governments, and determined work on the part of all our representatives here in Geneva. When the Geneva process resumes in full gear after the summer, it will be a time for constructive bridge-building."