26 August 2008

Joint Statement

with His Excellency Mr Celso Amorim, Minister for External Relations of Brazil

Minister Crean and Minister Amorim met today in Canberra and released the following statement:

In addition to discussing a range of bilateral issues Ministers Crean and Amorim emphasised the importance of the WTO Doha Round for the global economy and reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the negotiating phase of the Round this year. 

The Ministers agreed that negotiations came very close to a conclusion in July and that the small window of opportunity still existing should not be missed.

Ministers agreed to work together to this end and instructed their officials to re-engage as soon as possible to continue discussing technical solutions.

Minister Crean and Minister Amorim also both agreed to engage their colleagues to generate the necessary political will and high level political engagement to conclude the Doha negotiations.

Media Inquiries: Mr Crean's office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555