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People’s Action Week is the people’s alternative to the World Trade Organization’s 6th Ministerical Conference. Beginning on the 8th of December, and continuing until the end of the MC6, various local and international organizations have organized a wide range of workshops, seminars, and cultural events all focusing on the impact of the World Trade Organization on people. Keep up to date with what is going on during People’s Action Week and the HKPA’s response to the WTO negotiations, by frequently visiting this special section of the HKPA’s website. This section includes a complete programme list, press releases, daily…

English
Chinese

Another activist site in Hong Kong
http://www.inmediahk.net/public/index

UPDATES IN ENGLISH
http://junk-wto.blogspot.com/

And comments form the Institute for Public Accuracy

WTO Meets in Hong Kong

The World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference will take place Dec. 13-18 in Hong
Kong.

MARK WEISBROT, weisbrot@cepr.net,
http://www.cepr.net
An economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot
said today: “According to a recent World Bank study [’Agricultural Trade Reform and the
Doha Development Agenda’], even a very successful Doha Round would lead to tiny gains for
developing countries—less than three-tenths of 1 percent and possibly even much
smaller. This is about 2 cents a day per person for developing countries. If this is the
best the World Bank expects from the Doha Round, shouldn’t those interested in poverty
alleviation be asking for a different agenda? ... What makes this so damaging is that
developing countries are being asked to make very costly concessions in exchange for
these barely measurable gains.”

DEBORAH JAMES, deborah@globalexchange.org,
http://www.globalexchange.org
James is the global economy director for Global Exchange. She will be in Hong Kong
during the WTO meeting. She said today: “After 10 years of experience with the WTO, civil
society and governments around the world are increasingly rejecting corporate
globalization in favor of more democratic systems of governance that protect jobs,
promote economic development, and safeguard our environment.”

LORI WALLACH, lwallach@citizen.org
Wallach is the director of Public Citizen. She said today: “Efforts to extend the
failed status quo trade and globalization model are facing growing opposition worldwide,
as we saw with the recent breakdown of FTAA talks at the Summit of the Americas in
Argentina. Countries are calling into question the conventional wisdom on the benefits of
this particular model of trade—NAFTA in this hemisphere and the WTO globally.”

DAVID WASKOW, dwaskow@foe.org
Waskow is the international program director of Friends of the Earth. He said today:
“These negotiations may force open developing countries to agricultural products from
rich countries, impoverishing small farmers and undercutting sustainable agricultural
practices. That reality will be made worse as tariff reductions in sectors such as fish
and forest products will fuel depletion of the natural resources that the poor in
developing countries depend on for their livelihoods.”

COLIN RAJAH, crajah@nnirr.org
Rajah is the international migrant rights program coordinator at the National Network
for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He said today: “Through its ‘Mode 4’ deal, the WTO is
proposing to create a global guestworker program that will enable corporations to dictate
the flow of temporary workers—whose rights and immigrant status would be tied to their
employer, exposing them to significant abuse with no possibility of permanent residency.
It’s important to understand that trade agreements struck by the WTO have caused
communities to lose their livelihoods and forced people to migrate, while using
immigrants as cheap, disposable labor for corporations.”

ANURADHA MITTAL, amittal@oaklandinstitute.org
http://www.oaklandinstitute.org
Mittal is founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute. She will be in Hong
Kong during the WTO Ministerial Conference meeting and will host a daily live radio show
to be broadcast by KPFK in Los Angeles and other radio stations. She said today: “Our
broadcasts will include live panel discussions, interviews with politicians and analysts,
speeches, reports from street protests, press conferences, and official events.”