The importance of finalizing the Doha round of trade talks was emphasized today by new research suggesting that a successful conclusion could boost the global economy by as much as $700-billion.

The study, by the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, said concluding the Doha talks could increase the global economy by somewhere between $300-billion to $700-billion a year.

Doha is now in its eighth year, after stalling at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2008 following a dispute between India and the US over protection measures for subsistence farmers.

The talks are set to reconvene next month in Delhi.

Earlier this month, Pascal Lamy, head of the WTO, said that about 80% of the issues in the Doha round of trade talks had been agreed upon, though he warned at the time that there was still no end in sight.