ARUSHA, Tanzania, Nov. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The African Union (AU) on Thursday appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the coming sixth WTO ministerial negotiations should be inclusive and transparent.

    "We reiterate the need for full inclusiveness and transparency in the negotiations to ensure political ownership of both the process and the outcome of the negotiations," said a statement worked out by trade ministers of the AU member countries.

    The AU trade ministers, who had adopted an Arusha Declaration the day before, wanted to be adequately represented in all the preparatory meetings of the WTO ministerial negotiation, especially in the restricted meetings.

    These ministers are meeting here in northern Tanzania prior to the WTO ministerial to be held between December 13 and 18 in Hong Kong of China so as to coordinate and orchestrate their stance on the WTO negotiations.

    They agreed that their voice or rather the voice of their continent, should get stronger and louder with the WTO ministerial negotiations having proceeded from Seattle to Kancun and then from Doha to Hong Kong.

    The trade ministers of the AU member countries emphasized the need for the WTO Hong Kong ministerial meeting to deliver a balanced and fair outcome for all WTO members.

    They are especially concerned at failures to deliver any tangible results on development issues.

    The ministers therefore appealed to the WTO to ensure that during the WTO Hong Kong ministerial meeting substantive movement should be made toward meaningfully addressing implementation-related issues and concerns and that all issues related to Africa's development should be properly reflected in the outcomes of the negotiations.

    "We consider progress in the agricultural negotiations as essential for the successful conclusion of the Doha Work Program, "said the trade ministers of the AU countries, who urge the WTO to take into account during the Hong Kong negotiations such critical elements as market access, domestic support and export competition for African commodities.

    On Wednesday, the African trade ministers stressed in their Arusha Declaration that fair, equitable and stable prices for African commodities play a key role in poverty alleviation and in the improvement of living conditions for Africa's rural population, in that commodity production constitutes the largest source of revenue and employment for African countries.

    In many African countries, 65 percent of the total exports originate from the commodity sector and approximately half of the countries in Africa derive over 80 percent of their merchandise export income from commodities.

    In quite a few African countries, three or four commodities represent the main source of export earnings, government revenue and employment.

    The Arusha declaration welcomes a WTO consideration in Hong Kong of effective and expeditious reduction in subsidies by developed countries in cotton, sugar and all other commodity products of interest to developing countries apart from announcing that the African countries need flexibility and policy space under the WTO multilateral trade rules to choose the most effective strategy appropriate to the African situation.

    The forthcoming Hong Kong round of the WTO ministerial negotiations or otherwise known as the Doha Development Round is expected to settle the issues that will shape the final accord of the Doha Development Agenda. Enditem