*EPF211 09/09/2003
Text: Cancun, Dubai Talks Can Advance Development, Wolfensohn Says
(Urges WTO, World Bank-IMF to discuss effects on poor countries) (750)

Two upcoming international meetings will hopefully advance negotiations of trade issues important to developing countries, says James Wolfensohn, World Bank president.

Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will hold mid-term talks September 10-14 in Cancun, Mexico. The current round of WTO talks, called the Doha development round, was launched in 2001 in Doha. The Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold their bi-annual meetings September 22-24 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Briefing reporters September 9 in Washington, Wolfensohn also commented on the situation in Iraq. He said that the Bank is developing an assessment of reconstruction needs in that country that should be completed by the time of an international donors meeting October 23-24 in Madrid, Spain.

Following is the text of a World Bank press release about the briefing:

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Wolfensohn Looks Ahead to Cancun and Dubai

In briefing with reporters, World Bank President discusses importance of this week's world trade talks in Mexico and the Bank's upcoming Annual Meetings in the Middle East

September 9, 2003 -- World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn briefed reporters in Washington Monday ahead of this week's trade talks in Cancun and the annual meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund later this month in Dubai.

Wolfensohn said the Bank is going to Dubai with a "sense of enthusiasm" for the first annual meetings held in the Middle East. "There's been so much negative publicity about the region that it's nice to be going there in a constructive way. We hope for a successful meetings," he said.

Government delegations, World Bank and IMF staff, civil society organizations, business leaders and journalists will gather from September 22-24 for the meetings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. One of the main issues on the agenda will be the Millennium Development Goals. Two papers have been prepared for discussion-one on "global monitoring" to gauge progress in meeting the goals and the other on the financing of the goals.

In the run-up to the meetings, the Bank is also releasing four reports that focus on trade, governance, gender and unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Bank will also launch during the meetings its annual World Development Report, which focuses on service delivery.

Wolfensohn expressed hope that this week's World Trade Organization ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, will help re-establish trust and a framework for moving forward on negotiations of the Doha development round. That round of talks was launched to address many trade issues that are crucial to developing countries, but the negotiations are currently stalled over several disagreements.

"Cancun is not a decision making meeting -- it's a meeting that is a step along the way in the negotiations," Wolfensohn said. "My hope would be that they keep the doors open and have some movement forward." He said the Bank on Wednesday will unveil a new program to assist developing countries in managing the transition to a more open trade environment.

On Iraq, Wolfensohn said the World Bank's assessment of the country's development needs are "on track" to be done by a donors conference set for October. The information-gathering phase has been completed, and Bank staff are now drafting assessments to review with their Iraqi counterparts before the donor meeting.

The assessment process in Iraq has been unlike anywhere the Bank has worked before, Wolfensohn said. There were no government ministries, offices were ransacked, computer files were non-existent, Bank staff often had to visit Iraqi officials in their homes. "This was not a standard procedure," he said. Still, Wolfensohn added, "I don't think at the moment we're being held up on anything. What we need to do is get the assessment out, get more facts, and then sit down with our shareholders and decide how they want to use us."

Wolfensohn said it was not yet determined whether the World Bank would administer a trust fund comprised of international reconstruction and development aid for Iraq. "Our shareholders are now trying to work out what will be the terms and conditions of any new fund, and what will be the authority to spend any new monies," he said. But the more flexible the funding arrangement, the better, he noted. "The sort of funding you need in post-conflict is flexible funding without too many strings attached."

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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