Kathmandu, March 2

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi today held a meeting with Director General of the World Trade Organisation Roberto Azevêdo in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the meeting, Bairagi stated there needed to be a proper balance between trade and development. Highlighting that all countries should be able to win from the world trading system, the foreign secretary said there should be a system-wide support for the LDCs as they had not been able to fully utilise the special and differential provisions of the WTO regime. There is a capacity gap and they must be enabled so that there is a delivery on the LDC specific provisions of the WTO rules, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Director General Roberto said his role as the director general has been to ensure that LDCs benefit from the system and requested the WTO member states to engage themselves and move forward the WTO process, read the statement.

Foreign Secretary Bairagi also held a meeting with Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore on the side-lines of the 37th session of Human Rights Council. Bairagi highlighted the achievements made by Nepal in the field of human rights over the years and stressed that Nepal had remained constructively engaged with the UN human rights machinery.

The deputy high commissioner congratulated Nepal on its election to the Human Rights Council and wished for its success in the council.