The present round of WTO talks is ostensibly aimed at securing a better deal for the world's smallest and most vulnerable economies.
With a population of about 2,000 people, they don't come any smaller than Niue, a 260 sq km speck of land that lies between Tonga and Samoa.
Niue (pronounced new-ay), whose main source of revenue is foreign aid, is no stranger to the downsides of trying to compete in an increasingly global marketplace, not just for goods, but people.
'The main thing for us is the labour market,' said Bill Motufoou, the Niuean trade minister. 'We've had a lot of experience with the globalisation of the labour market and the effect that has had on our population. 'We don't have many resources, just the sea and the land - we don't even really have people, they are living outside. There are 20,000 Niueans who live offshore in New Zealand as opposed to less than 2,000 who remain on the island.'
This paucity of population is exemplified by the number of ministerial hats Mr Motufoou must wear. In addition to trade, his portfolios include administration, shipping, investment, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, immigration, water and construction. He said the country, which has been an observer at the WTO for almost four years, is still undecided about what, if any benefits membership will bring. 'We're here to observe the process and the potential benefits and pitfalls we may encounter if we ever decide to become members,' he said.
Aside from people, the island's principal export is taro. Previous export crops of limes, passion fruit and bananas all succumbed to foreign competition and the odd cyclone. 'We used to export bananas to New Zealand years ago but we've lost all of that because of [multinational banana company] Bonito,' he said. 'And Australia and Ecuador have come in. They produce better bananas, and more of them.'
