In today's world, trade is a prime mover of the global economy. But trade cannot continue to grow without prosperity in the developing countries, whose striking diversity poses multiple challenges. Countries are at varying stages of development, and while rising trade and liberalization have meant solid economic growth for some, for others they have been accompanied by falling income, falling employment, greater indebtedness and greater poverty. The one-size-fits-all approach to development has failed, multilateralism is in crisis, and there is a profound mismatch between the pursuit of national interests on the one hand and the broader goals of an international trading system on the other. Countries lacking the goods and services to compete in world trade have little to gain from the multilateral negotiations now under way. Coherence is needed.

The conference has chosen coherence as its main theme - coherence, that is, between the national and international visions of trade and development. To achieve that coherence, all countries will have to work towards a multilateral trading system that is "open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory", as pledged by the Millennium Declaration of the UN General Assembly. For developing countries, it will mean developing the goods and services needed to benefit from the system and thereby integrate into the global economy. For developed countries, and for the international community in general, it will mean providing the developing countries with more aid so that they have an equal stake in the trading system. At the same time, coherence means taking account of the differences among countries: both between developed and developing countries, and within the developing countries themselves. The paramount objective of the conference is thus to move these issues forward on the international agenda and create the consensus needed to bridge the gaps.