PRESS/91
17February 1998
WTO DENIES CLAIMS BYSPECIAL INTERESTS
LINKING RUGGIERO TOMAI
Inrecent daysanumber ofnews organizations haverunstories containing anerroneous quote
linking WTO Director-General Renato Ruggiero withthenegotiations foraMultilateral Agreement
onInvestment which areunderway intheOrganization forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment.
Thiserroneous statement hasbeensupplied byanumber ofspecial interest groups which oppose
theMAI. Inanattempt togetacross theirpoint ofview, these groups haveassociated Mr.Ruggiero
with anegotiation which istaking place inaseparate forum outside theWTO.
TheOECD isanorganization of29oftheworld 'smost advanced economies. TheWTO is
anorganization of132members, 80%ofwhich aredeveloping countries andeconomies intransition.
There isnonegotiation currently underway intheWTO which focuses oninvestment.
On16January inLondon, Mr.Ruggiero gaveaspeech atChatham House inwhich hequoted
JohnJackson, thehighly respected lawprofessor fromtheUniversity ofMichigan. "John Jackson has
described themultilateral trading system asa'constitution 'fortheworld economy." Atnopoint in
thatspeech, norinanyother, didMr.Ruggiero make areference totheMAIanditsroleintheglobal
economy.
END 98-0582