Ban expresses Doha disappointment

NEW YORK, July 31 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, concerned about the failure of the Geneva trade talks on the Doha round, says their success was important at this stage.

Worried about the impact the talks' failure could have on developing nations, the United Nations leader said in a statement that "success was particularly important at this juncture when the world faces major development challenges" such as climate change, poverty, increasing protectionism and the current food, fuel and financial crises, the U.N. News center reported.

The World Trade Organization ministerial talks among 35 countries to rescue the so-called 2001 Doha round to liberalize world trade collapsed Tuesday after nine days of intense negotiations. The delegates could not agree on a safeguard to allow developing countries, facing falling prices, to temporarily raise tariffs to curtail surging imports.

A U.N. spokesman said Ban is convinced about the need for a successful conclusion of the talks to "energize international cooperation" to help developing countries derive "gains from trade and investment-led globalization."

Efforts are now under way to restart the talks before year's end.