The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has established a Doha work plan, outlining the needs of the negotiating process between September and December 2009, if the ambition of concluding the Doha Development round in 2010 is to be met.

"This is what Ministers in Delhi asked us for. It is an important step, and I appreciate the effort and co-operation that has gone into it," said WTO DG Pascal Lamy.

He also warned that while the work programme was necessary and substantive, it would not deliver a substantive result. A substantive result could only come from political engagement and from hard bargaining on the few remaining issues yet to be seen.

Earlier this month, at New Delhi, Ministers from over 35 countries, pledged to conclude the round by 2010. They stressed that reinforcing the multilateral trading system through the conclusion of the Doha round was essential in the context of the current economic crisis. To speed up the pace of the negotiations, they also agreed that senior officials should meet in Geneva from September 14 to draw up a process of engagement for the next two to three months and to work with the chairs of the negotiating groups to contribute to preparing an overall agenda of engagement.

"At this stage, I remain cautious in my forecast. It would be premature for me to predict today that the necessary political engagement will in fact take place over the next three months. We should be in a position to judge by December whether or not this has happened," said Lamy.

The chances of concluding the round in 2010 depended very much on the political engagement - "it depends on engagement at all levels, multilaterally, plurilaterally and bilaterally, starting now," he added.

Lamy also stated that he would deliver the same message to the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20), when he met with them in Pittsburgh on September 24 and September 25.

"Leadership is about responsibility," he stressed. "Failure to act - not just in Pittsburgh, but also here in Geneva - will be hard felt by the entire international community at this time of economic crisis. We all know that keeping trade open is crucial for many members to exit the crisis. And 60 years of experience have told us that the best way to keep trade open is to keep opening trade, while, of course, creating the necessary level playing field with rules," he emphasised.

He said that the G20 must show leadership and send the right signal, and there must be the appropriate follow-up on the ground in Geneva.