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GENEVA : The World Trade Organisation chief on Friday invited heads of development and commercial banks to a meeting in Geneva next month to discuss the impact of the economic crisis on trade finance.
"A number of WTO members, in particular developing countries, have flagged the problems they are facing in arranging trade financing," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said in his letter.
"The purpose of our next meeting will be to review how the international market for trade-financing is faring in view of the current very difficult conditions on international financial markets," Lamy said.
The meeting will be held on November 12 at WTO headquarters in Geneva.
Among the invitees are World Bank head Robert Zoellick, International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the presidents of the Inter-American, Asian and African development banks.
They may not attend in person however but send specialists who are well-versed in trade finance matters, trade sources said.
Representatives from Citigroup, Commerzbank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan and HSBC have also been invited because they are the most active banks in the field of trade finance, the sources added.
Lamy also told a meeting of the WTO's Trade Negotiating Committee that the organisation could act as a model of how to regulate anew the global financial system in the wake of the crisis that has seen Wall Street titans humbled and unprecedented levels of state intervention in the banking sector.
"At a time when there are renewed calls for a better regulation in the financial area, the WTO system provides an example of how the lessons of history and experience have led to the construction of a system of international governance," Lamy said.
He warned against countries adopting protectionist measures in the wake of the crisis despite political temptations.
"The role of the WTO as a firewall against protectionist responses is thus vital," he said.
- AFP /ls
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