Way forward for developing countries:

The developing countries have become aware of  the risks and the problems. It is important for them to consolidate their strength in  the WTO  and work towards making the WTO supportive of their development goals. The very first  step is to work out the position of the country on  important issues. In respect of a matter under consideration  in the WTO, a country  has to determine its national interest after weighmg the pros and  cons. Almost  all decisions  in the WTO will have differential  impacts on different sections  in  the country. Also, there may be a  losslgain  in  the  short  run for  the domestic  economy, but a gainlloss  in  the long run. The country should weigh  these differing impacts and implications and then decide on its approach and position  on  a proposal, taking an overall view of the issues  from the national angle. The greatest strength of a country in multilateral negotiations lies in the clarity of its own interests and resulting clarity of its position.

Next comes the need  for in-depth and comprehensive preparation for putting forward country's position and points of view in the negotiations with clarity and force. The preparation process needs detailed analytical studies of various aspects of the proposal. Naturally, it needs the support of research iqstitutes and universities.

A developing country should also strive  to  form  ctialitions  within  the developing countries'  group and  also with some developed  countries,  if possible. Formation of coalitions on specific subjects and issues is, of course, a necessity; but it  is also useful  to have continuing coalitions among some countries across the spectrum of subjects and issues.

Of  course,  the most important step in multilateral negotiations is for a country to participate  in the formal and informal meetings during the negotiation and speak out its position clearly. If it remains silent,  its views  remain unheard and decisions are taken without its views being considered. 

Finally, when negotiations yield  an outcome, a developing country should examine whether  it is balanced, i.e., whether  it has got benefits commensurate with the obligations it has undertaken. Also it should examine whether the result is  in  consonance with its development objective  and whether  it will hinder or harm the development process.