Wolfowitz: trade helps the poor most

By PDS | 23 October 2005

Paul Wolfowitz, the new head of the World Bank, told parliamentarians gathered in Helsinki this weekend that "the world's poor have the most to gain from trade liberalisation". He added that the success of the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of negotiations was essential in order to help the poor in developing countries.

Mr Wolfowitz said liberalising international trade was even more important for developing countries than development aid. Citing a World Bank report, he said developing countries would benefit almost as much from the liberalization of trade between them as they would from lifting barriers to trade between them and industrial countries. Mr Wolfowitz underscored that reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa was the World Bank's primary goal.