Top RP execs to miss crucial WTO meet

By FELIPE F. SALVOSA II BusinessWorld Top Philippine officials won’t be around when key meetings begin in Geneva today to decide whether global trade in goods and services should be opened up further. Observers warned that the outcome of the ministerial could be disadvantageous as the Philippines, while a relatively open economy, has manufacturers and farmers wary of even more tariff cuts and reduced protection. The Geneva meetings, actually a "mini-ministerial" as only 30 or so trade ministers will be in attendance, has been described as make-or-break for the Doha round of global trade negotiations which has foundered ever since its launch in the Qatari capital in 2001. World Trade Organization (WTO) members are under pressure to finish the Doha round with trade-friendly US President George W. Bush only months away from... [read full story]