"This process is continuing, the process of engagement is continuing, and this process will continue again tomorrow. So I'm optimistic," said Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath after almost five hours of meetings with his counterparts. He said that the signals were "constructive," and noted that the United States has made some offers.
"There's reasonably good progress on this," he said. In turn, India has "made a very substantial offer," claimed Nath. "It's an offer we've never made. We've opened up many areas, of course it's subject to what we get," he added. Ministers from over 35 nations are in Geneva this week in a bid to conclude a global trade pact under the so-called Doha Round. The talks, launched in the Qatari capital seven years ago, were on the brink of collapse earlier this week before what some described as a "breakthrough" on Friday evening.
Focus turned to the issue of services on Saturday, after sessions earlier in the week which were centred on agriculture and industrial products. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said after the session that there had been "some interesting" offers from India and China.
"I heard some interesting signals from India, (a) couple of things from China, one in particular that I want to specify, to follow up," he added. He did not detail the offers but added that he was "moderately encouraged by what happened this afternoon."
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab meanwhile described the session as a "positive step forward," and said that the "vast majority" of her counterparts felt the same.
"Whether it was the developed countries or the developing countries' participants, this conversation about services, the first really that the ministers have had together, was a good step forward, a positive step forward," she said.
Earlier, the United States said it was ready to talk about giving more temporary access to its labour market for foreign professionals, a big demand of some developing countries in world trade talks. "When it comes to temporary entry of business professionals we signalled that we are ready to have that conversation in the context of the Doha round," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said after discussing services with other ministers.
"But obviously it has to be in conjunction with our consultations with Congress," she told reporters at the headquarters of the World Trade Organisation.
The issue of granting temporary business visas to skilled foreign workers is controversial with many politicians who consider it an immigration issue that should not be included in trade pacts. A top Indian trade official said the US offer was more vague than a similar one made by the European Union.
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told reporters he was "moderately encouraged" by the meeting. Services have become the biggest driver of the world economy but account for a small amount of world trade. On Friday, ministers from around 35 key WTO players made unexpected progress on two other core issues of the talks: farming and industrial goods.
Signals that they were willing to make attractive offers on services could help push the farming and industrial talks closer to a deal, trade officials said before Saturday's meeting. "The signals that were sent were magnificent," said Mexico's ambassador to the WTO, Fernando de Mateo y Venturini, who chairs the services talks.
"I think in services things are moving fast. This is a very nice indication that things might move as well in the other sectors," he said. Mandelson said he hoped Saturday's meeting would pave the way for a tabling of offers on services later this year.