There are about 190 states in the world, but the 149 that are members of the WTO account for nearly all global trade.

More than 97 per cent of imports and exports of goods and services falls under the WTO's rules and therefore most people in the world are affected, directly or indirectly, by the WTO and any agreements that are reached in Hong Kong.

These high stakes are the reason why, in addition to the 6,000 trade officials that are meeting now inside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, there are an estimated 6,000 protesters gathered outside.

'Because this meeting of the WTO only happens every two years it is a focal point for people to express their dissatisfaction,' says Brett Solomon from Bangkok-based trade justice group Focus on the Global South.

'These are real people - farmers, fisherfolk, factory workers - protesting about real issues that affect their lives, about their own personal experiences.'

Looking around you at the skyscrapers and shopping centres in Hong Kong, you can see how much wealth trade can generate.

Forty years ago, South Korea was as poor as Ghana in West Africa. Today, extreme poverty has been eliminated in South Korea while in Ghana nearly 80 per cent of the population still lives on less than US$2 a day. The mainland's economy is also booming thanks to trade.

But, for all these success stories, there are millions of people around the world who have not benefited from trade.

'Even in countries that have prospered through trade, such as South Korea and more recently China, many poor people have been left behind,' says Sumie Arima from the Global Call to Action against Poverty, an umbrella body representing organisations like Oxfam, World Vision and ActionAid.

'Then there are whole countries, especially in Africa, that have also been left behind.'

And this, the protesters say, is partly because of unfair trade practices.

'The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, and the WTO is not only allowing this to happen, but is also promoting it,' says Mr Solomon.

'In effect, the WTO's rules support rich countries and big international companies to the exclusion of poor people.'

One of the thorniest issues in the current talks revolves around the subsidies that rich regions like the United States and the European Union pay to their farmers. Under WTO rules, all countries are meant to be reducing their subsidies because they can lead to unfair competition in world markets.

'The US pays its cotton farmers US$3 billion a year in subsidies,' explains Henri Valot from Global Call to Action.

'This means that they can sell their cotton on world markets at prices below the cost of production. When 10 million poor cotton farmers in Africa try to sell their cotton at a fair price, they are competing against cheap, subsidised cotton from the US. We all know who is going to lose out.'

Mr Solomon says: 'The WTO has rightly become a symbol of many of the global injustices we see in the world today. And that is why so many people have come to Hong Kong to say 'no' to the WTO.'

See Street Talk on page 3 and four young protesters' comments on pages 6 and 7