They also urged the ministers to address the citizens' concerns during the WTO ministerial to be held next week in Hong Kong. This was communicated through a joint letter written by the representatives of eight leading civil society organisations to trade ministers of 45 LDCs.

The letter was sent to the LDC trade ministers as a follow-up to the pre-Hong Kong International Civil Society Forum on LDCs held in Dhaka on 3-5 October 2005. The LDC Forum was organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in connection with the upcoming Hong Kong Ministerial.

The letter was signed by Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of CPD, and representatives of seven international partner organisations, which include Aftab Alam Khan of Action Aid International, Emma Harrison of Consumers International, Cheikh Tidiane Dieye of Enda Tiers Mande, Max Vander Sleen of EU-LDC Network, Anil Prabhakar Tambay of Oxfam International, Navin Dahal of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SWATEE), and Dr Chandrakant Patel of the southern and Eastern African Trade Information Institute (SEATINI).

Listing the priorities of the LDCs, signatories to civil society organisations hoped that the ministers will incorporate these in their policy position papers in Hong Kong.

These priorities include effective market access for agricultural and non- agricultural products of LDC origins, exemption from all trade remedial measures for all LDC exportable items, phaseout of the subsides given to cotton growers in the developed countries, access to essential medicines in LDCs under TRIPS agreement, protection of the rights of farmers, indigenous people and local communities, free temporary movement of service providers from LDCs including less skilled workers under GATS Mode-4.