US embassy cable - 04PRETORIA3591

UNCLAS PRETORIA 003591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S, AF/EPS, EB 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/JDIEMOND 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR PCOLEMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, SF, WTO, WTRO, USTR 
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA REACTS POSITIVELY TO WTO NEGOTIATING 
FRAMEWORK 
 
REF: STATE 168991 
 
1.  The South African government hailed the August 1 deal 
reached in Geneva on a new framework for the negotiations of 
the Doha Development Agenda as an important milestone and 
victory for developing countries.  Xavier Carim, South 
Africa's chief trade negotiator, said that the group of 20 
developing countries had a significant influence on the 
outcome.  He asserted that the group was now a stronger 
alliance than ever before and would become a permanent 
feature of WTO talks.  He cautioned, however, that the most 
hotly contested issues had yet to be resolved. 
 
2.  South African economists and the media were also very 
positive about the agreement.  Dr. Iraq Abedian, chief 
executive of the Pan African Avisory Service, felt that the 
fact that multilateralism in international trade is back on 
track was clearly good for the world economy and could 
provide a way out of the poverty trap for many emerging 
economies.  Ron Derby of the "Citizen" said that the 
breakthrough in WTO talks held out promise for developing 
economies that wanted to get into agricultural markets in the 
EU and the United States.  The "Sowetan" newspaper was 
particularly pleased with the timing of the agreement, 
arguing that no progress would have been registered between 
now and the U.S. presidential election if this deadline had 
been missed. 
FRAZER