The man who looks set to be the next head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said today that concluding the Doha round of trade negotiations was the top priority.
"The priority is clear. It is the conclusion of the Doha round. It is objective number one, number two, and number three," Pascal Lamy told a conference in Paris.
Mr Lamy, a former European Union trade chief, was effectively proclaimed the next head of the WTO on Friday when his only remaining rival pulled out. He is expected to be formally appointed before the end of May.
The Frenchman will take over from incumbent Supachai Panitchpakdi for a four-year term starting on September 1st, just four months before the WTO faces a deadline for key deals in its struggling Doha Round of free trade negotiations.
A ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December will try to approve a draft deal on lowering barriers to trade, opening the way for the Doha Round to be wrapped up in 2006. Mr Lamy said the formal WTO appointments procedure was not yet over.
But asked if agricultural issues were a key obstacle to concluding the Doha round, he said some issues had been resolved but that others remained.