Razak to attend informal WTO meeting in Shanghai.

ISLAMABAD -- While skipping three mini-ministerial meetings in the last one year, the government has finally sent Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood to attend the informal World Trade Organisation mini-ministerial meeting in Shanghai.

The meeting is to kick off on Tuesday along the sidelines of a week-long second China International Import Expo will be attended by the representatives of at least 35 countries.

The mini-ministerial meeting served dual purpose, where commerce ministers can take up bilateral issues with their counterparts.

WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo will also attend the ministerial luncheon on investment facilitation for development.

An official source in the commerce ministry told Dawn that Dawood has only one scheduled meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

The Chinese commerce minister had sent a letter to Dawood on Sept 10 to attend the informal WTO ministerial meeting. The rules-based multilateral trading system has been playing an important role in promoting global trade and economic growth.

Currently, this system is encountering difficulties and the WTO is facing crisis, the letter said. Against this...