Trade Ministers of major emerging economies, Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Africa (BRICS) met in Geneva on Wednesday before attending the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, reiterating their commitment to fully engage in the Doha Round negotiations.

The ministers from the BRICS countries attend a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Dec. 14, 2011.  (Xinhua/Yu Yang)

They emphasized the need to stick to the principles reached over the last ten years that defined the negotiations as development-centered.

"Negotiations on any component of the DDA (Doha Development Agenda) must be based on the mandates multilaterally agreed since the launching of the Round in 2011 and on trade-offs achieved over the last 10 years," the ministers said in a press commuique issued after their meeting.

With Russia' accession to the WTO due on Friday, the voice of BRICS at the world trading regime has become stronger than ever. "We believe that the BRICS countries should play a leading role in South-South cooperation," the communique said, underlining huge potential both in trade flows and investments among developing countries in the coming decades.

"In this process of buttressing the multilateral trade system, we underscore the pressing need to further develop its rules and structure to address in particular the concerns and interests of developing countries," the ministers said.

They also stressed the importance of WTO's role in keeping protectionist forces at bay.

The WTO Eighth Ministerial Conference will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday-Saturday. Trade ministers from all over the world is expected to discuss trade-related topics such as "Importance of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO", "Trade and Development" and "Doha Development Agenda."

The Conference will also take up the accessions of three new members: Russia, Samoa and Montenegro.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet