The World Trade Organization (WTO) opened its first ministerial conference in four years on Monday, where trade chiefs of its 153 members were due to review the activities of the multilateral trade body and gather momentum for the Doha Round negotiations.

It would be "a platform for ministers to review the functioning of this house" and an occasion "to send a number of strong signals to the world with respect to the entire WTO waterfront of issues, from monitoring and surveillance to disputes, accessions, aid for trade, technical assistance and international governance," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said.

For the three-day conference, the first one after trade chiefs last met in 2005 in Hong Kong, more than 2,700 delegates, along with 400 journalists and nearly 500 members of civil society, would have discussions under the main theme "WTO, Multilateral Trading System and Current Global Economic Environment."

The conference is taking place as world trade is emerging from its worst contraction since the Great Depression in 1930s due to the impact of the financial and economic crisis.

World trade will shrink by more than 10 percent in volume terms this year, according to the WTO.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Lamy said the WTO needs to be adjusted to changing risks, calling for advancement of the Doha Round of global trade talks.

"The single largest adjustment we need to make is to conclude the Doha Round successfully and soon," he said.

Lamy warned time is now running out for conclusion of the Doha Round by 2010, a new deadline pledged by political leaders.

"Now we need action, concrete and practical action, to close the remaining gaps," he said.

The Doha Round of global trade talks was launched in 2001 at a previous WTO ministerial conference in the Qatar's capital. It has been deadlocked in the past eight years due to differences between developed and developing countries over access to agricultural and non-agricultural markets.

However, the conference would not take any decision on the Doha Round of global trade talks.

It "will not be a negotiating session," Lamy said earlier this month.

Although trade negotiations are not on the agenda of the conference, which is unlike the previous ones, it is certain that the long-stalled Doha Round would feature high in ministers' speeches and sideline talks.

On the eve of the conference, WTO developing members on Sunday called for urgent action to resolve the remaining issues in the Doha Round so that a shared objective to conclude the negotiations in 2010 could be accomplished.

"There is urgent need to translate political statements into concrete engagement," said a statement issued by the Group of 20 (G-20) coalition of WTO developing members, including India, Brazil and China.

Amid the economic crisis, there is an increasing fear for the rise of protectionism, which poses a further risk to the recovery.

Ministers are expected to repeat their pledge of resisting protectionism, though there are signs that some countries have failed to deliver on their promise.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2009)