Tackling poverty and lifting barriers to free trade are central to combating the spread of global terrorism, leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Nigeria said on Friday.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he despaired at the collapse of trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, and said it is crucial to end the ”debilitating effect of trade barriers”.
”There would be no single act that could do more to enhance the futures and living standards of the poorest governments of the Commonwealth than the beginning of the dismantling of these barriers,” Howard said at the opening ceremony of the meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
He singled out agriculture subsidies — vigorously protected by the United States and European Union — as among the barriers that should go.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said the Commonwealth plays an important role in bringing together rich Western countries and poorer nations and in ensuring the voices of all governments are heard on the international stage.
”The war on terror cannot be won by military force alone, we must also use partnerships to best effect,” McKinnnon said.
He said the imbalances of wealth and power would lead to ”more resentment and ultimately we could see more violence and terror”.
McKinnon also insisted that ”invidious and distorting agricultural subsidies” are lifted.
The World Trade Organisation talks in Cancun collapsed because of what the developing world considered were overly protectionist agricultural policies of developed countries.
Formerly known as the British Commonwealth, the Commonwealth’s member states include Britain, India, Pakistan, Canada, Australia, many Pacific and Caribbean nations and several African states. — Sapa-AP