Wednesday, January 27, 1999

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

The awarding to Seattle of the next World Trade Organization meeting in November represents a new benchmark for the importance of the Puget Sound region in international commerce.

"This will be the largest trade event ever held in the United States, and it will inaugurate negotiations which will shape world trade as we move to the next century," observed U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky.

Other comments revolve around the impressive numbers associated with the four-day meeting that begins Nov. 30.

Some 5,000 people will come to town, including 3,000 delegates. As with last year's meeting in Geneva, which 20 heads of state attended, there will be heads of state as well as ranking Cabinet ministers and leading business figures here. As Sen. Patty Murray said on learning the news, in international trade, "The whole world is coming to Seattle."

The size of the meeting and the millions of dollars that will be spent here are big plusses. Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer of the Seattle-King County Visitors and Convention Bureau, estimated that the WTO meeting will be about five times as large as the typical convention that comes here.

The fact is that the selection of Seattle recognizes our substantial importance as a major world trading point not only for the northwestern United States but also for our key position on the Pacific Rim.

The WTO meeting also offers a signal: World trade is of central importance to the well-being of this area, as a regional player and also as the locus of commerce of global significance.