Four sober-looking gentlemen are busy working out the finer details of a multilateral framework for liberalising the services sector. Each one is demanding concessions in return for certain sacrifices. The mandate for all four is to safeguard their country's interests and yet reach a consensus.
This is not a World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiation taking place in Geneva, but a simulation session being enacted in Udyog Bhawan, which houses the ministry of commerce and industry. Taking a leaf out of the developed countries' book of groundwork for WTO negotiations, the ministry recently held a simulated session to enable the negotiators to hone their skills. Apart from government officials, the participants included representatives from the health sector.
"The idea was to emulate the US and other developed countries and do what they do very frequently," said an official. The simulated sessions would not only help in honing the country