Looking back, looking forward

Looking back at the first ten years of WTO, one thing that stands out much more strongly than the stumbles over the agenda and the protests in the streets is that every government in the world sees the WTO as part of its future. Even the governments of economies in a difficult transition from centrally-planned to market-organized make every effort to join the WTO as soon as possible. Even governments of the poorest or the most isolated economies are keen to become Members of the WTO. There can be no more sincere tribute to the value that WTO holds for its Members.