The WTO and multilateral trading system: Past, present and future

This is a composite view of the GATT/WTO system as I have seen it during my association with it for the last three decades. The nature of my association has been varied. My role in it was intense as a country's permanent representative and negotiator. It was rather comprehensive as the Chairman of the GATT Council and the Chairman of the GATT Contracting Parties. On those occasions I had the opportunity to see it very much from the inside. Also, I had direct experience at that time of the various forces and influences operating in the system. Subsequently, I had view of it from the side while organising and coordinating technical assistance to the developing countries in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the GATT. It was a rather detached view from the fringe as I was personally not involved directly in the negotiations. Yet I was not far removed from the process, as I had to closely follow the issues discussed in the negotiations and their implications in the context of the interest of the developing countries. Finally, I saw the system as an outsider when I started analyzing the multilateral trade agreements from the angel of the developing countries and, in that process, had a feel of the impact of the agreements on the developing countries.