G-20 Plus negocia tras Cancún

Representantes de los países que integran el G-20 Plus, reunidos en Buenos Aires.

Representatives of the G-20 Plus, a group of developing countries, begin discussions in Argentina on Friday. They want to evolve a joint strategy for the next round of WTO related trade negotiations scheduled to be held in Geneva in mid December.

This report from Sanjiv Srivastava:

The G-20 Plus meeting assumed significance because it's the first time representatives of the developing world will be meeting after Cancun, where the rich and poor countries could not reach a consensus on a new world trade order.

According to officials in India, an influential member of the G-20 Plus, together with China, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, the meeting should help the developing countries consolidate their position before the next round of trade negotiations begin.

The developing world is unlikely to change its stand on the issue of agriculture subsidies. The poor countries say the rich nations are spending nearly three hundred and ten billion dollars every year on farm subsidies. These subsidies depress global farm prices and allow the developed countries to dump cheaper food grains in the poor countries, crippling the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers in the developing world.

The meeting will also try and send a signal that the G-20 Plus has not weakened after countries like Peru and Colombia withdrew from the group last week.

Informal efforts are being undertaken by certain G-20 Plus members to further expand the group by initiating dialogue with African countries like Kenya, who are even more vocal in their opposition to the developed world on issues like farm subsidies, investment and competition.

SANJIV SRIVASTAVA, BBC NEWS, DELHI

the developing world
el mundo en desarrollo

consensus
consenso

a new world trade order
nuevo orden comercial mundial, nuevo sistema para promover el libre comercio

an influential member
socio influyente

consolidate
consolidar, fortalecer

negotiations
negociaciones

stand
(en este caso) posición, punto de vista

subsidies
subsidios

depress global farm prices
provocan la caída de los precios internacionales de los productos agrícolas

withdrew from
se retiraron de

issues
asuntos, temas