Press Release

For Immediate Release December 13, 2005

Contact: Tita Freeman, Business Roundtable 202-496-3269; 24-hour contact in Hong Kong: 001-202-368-2883 or Eric Thomas, The Fratelli Group 202-822-9491

U.S. Business Leaders Issue "Call to Action" in Hong Kong

Hong Kong - The American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha) today called on the world's trade ministers "to infuse optimism, creativity, and a renewed sense of commitment and urgency to the Doha Round," during this week's WTO Ministerial meetings in Hong Kong.

In a "Call to Action" issued to world trade ministers at a press briefing in Hong Kong, ABCDoha stated: "The U.S. business community does not accept the premise that expectations must be lowered for the outcome of Hong Kong. Delaying the difficult decisions required to move the talks forward could jeopardize the prospects of concluding this round by the end of 2006 which we believe is realistic and should remain the collective goal of WTO members."

The ABCDoha delegation in Hong Kong this week includes representatives from more than 70 U.S. companies and leading trade associations dedicated to achieving ambitious results from the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

"Hong Kong is an important milestone in these historic negotiations. Now is the time for serious action on the part of every WTO member if we are to fulfill the promise of the Doha Round. Action now will bring the benefits sooner to WTO member countries who want to grow their economies and improve the lives of their citizens today," the statement concluded.

Click here to view the full text of the ABCDoha Call to Action.

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The American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha; www.abcdoha.org) is an umbrella group of over 200 U.S. companies and major U.S. trade associations representing service-providers, manufacturers, agribusiness, customs facilitators, and other stakeholders all dedicated to achieving an ambitious result from the Doha Round in 2006.