To those who know a thing or two about the subtlety of international lobbying and diplomacy, the visit of Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi to Mauritius is a major step forward in making our case to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Diplomacy is a tricky art whereby body language speaks volumes. Hopefully, the various interactions of the WTO boss with our leaders would have prompted a meeting of minds that could speed up matters.

To hope that Mauritian negotiators will, from now on, have a field day in Geneva is a bit of a stretch. However, one may reasonably expect that bureaucrats at the helm of the international trading institution will now be more sensitive to our cause.

The WTO is unique in a number of ways. The amount of lobbying activity generated around world trade matters is most probably second to none. For all their international celebrity and utmost importance, the Bretton Woods institutions have never been able to attract so much diplomatic focus during their entire existence.

Few countries question the principle of an international body to look after the liberalization of trade. However, the debate is more about the pace and the scope of the multilateral trading system. The usual charge is that rich countries will always want to drive the liberalization process on their own terms. Less developed countries like Mauritius feel that things are moving much faster than they can cope with. Hence, the need for sound diplomacy to help shape the course of negotiations.

Mauritius faces an erosion of trade preferences on which its two main pillars, namely sugar and garments, have thrived on international markets. The country is now pressing for a special and differentiated treatment at the WTO. An alliance of several countries (G-90) was formed during the Cancun talks last September on that very basis. Geneva is already alert to this new set of demands. The latter should now be pushed through the formal channel of discussions. Bringing our concerns to the close attention of key figures like Supachai Panitchpakdi should help a lot.

Mauritius is a good case in point. It has already started reforming its key industries and has a track record of economic achievements. The WTO boss has been full of praise of the fact that Mauritius has initiated the shake-up on its own and has made significant strides in the adjustment process.

But our visitor not only listened to us. He also tendered some very useful advice to our leaders. Preference dependency is not the way forward. Furthermore, since Mauritius is to develop service industries more aggressively, it should not fight a rearguard action in the Doha Round. We may lose out on opportunities related to services, should we not change our stance in the negotiations.

The liberalization process does threaten small economies like ours. But it also opens up new avenues for growth. Supachai?s advice calls for a rethinking of our lobby strategy.