WTO Director-General Mike Moore announced today his gratitude to New Zealand's Trade Minister, Lockwood Smith for Minister Smith's agreement to serve as a "Friend of the Chair" in the WTO's Seattle Ministerial Conference. The New Zealand Minister will head up discussions aimed at bridging differences among WTO Members on those elements of the Ministerial Declaration concerned with the so-called "Singapore Agenda", namely investment, competition, government procurement and trade facilitation negotiations. Other issues to be taken up in the Minister's group include trade-related intellectual property rights, trade and the environment and proposed working groups on trade and finance, trade and debt and discussions relative to globalization issues.