A day before the opening of the WTO's Sixth Ministerial Conference, Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology John Tsang called on participants to provide a "rousing curtain call".

Speaking at the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO - Dialogue with Ministers & Senior WTO Officials, Mr Tsang, who is also chairman of the meeting, said it is true that WTO members have been "recalibrating" their expectations.

"But I would draw your attention to the other side of that coin - and it is this: WTO members remain fully committed to the high level of ambition that they set for themselves when they launched the Doha negotiations four years ago," he stressed.

"The reality is that we need more time to fill the gaps in our negotiating framework, particularly on two important areas of our negotiations, agriculture and non-agricultural market access. Our target remains to build a platform in Hong Kong so that the Doha negotiations can make their final drive towards successful conclusion in 2006."

In other words, members are still committed to reaching a consensus. He pointed to the endorsement of the draft of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration in Geneva earlier this month. "This draft provides a clear snapshot of where we have gone these past four years."

He stressed this round of talks was focused on development, and he had been working hard with WTO colleagues on finding ways to emerge with deliverables that would help lift the poorest countries out of poverty.

"I am encouraged by the recent agreement to extend the transition period for least developed countries under the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement for seven and a half years," he said.

"I am further encouraged that the General Council has agreed to amend the TRIPS Agreement, and make permanent the flexibility of developing and least developed members to produce or import generic drugs to deal with epidemics."

Plans to pursue agreements to help poorer nations

During the negotiations this week, he would also pursue agreement on duty-free, quota-free market access for least developed countries' products; agreement on special and different treatment proposals - especially those put forward by least developed members; and progress on an Aid for Trade programme to enable implementation of WTO obligations.

He reminded his audience that the WTO was a member-driven body. "No one can force a decision when the conditions to forge consensus are not there. But I take it as a good sign that WTO members, particularly those from developing economies, are taking part in discussions with real vigour. I believe they realise that pragmatism and flexibility are the prime requirements as we head down to the wire," Mr Tsang said.