Accounting chiefs have added their voices to a list of high profile blue chip executives calling for free trade deal ahead of scheduled talks in Geneva tomorrow to further Doha discussions among minsters at the World Trade Organisation.

KPMG senior partner Jon Griffith-Jones and BT chairman Sir Mike Rake were among a list of signatories that sent a letter to the FT calling for a deal that 'markedly reduces trade distortions, brings down barriers to trade in goods and services, maintains incentives to innovation and gives a boost to a faltering global economy.'

The senior figures said that as the ministers gathered for tomorrow's talks, they need to deliver 'progress that has so far been elusive'.

Other senior figures who signed the letter included CBI Chairman and president Martin Broughton of BA; Philip Hampton, CBI vice-president and chairman of J Sainsbury; Paul Skinner, chairman of Rio Tinto; Dave Lewis, chairman of Unilever UK and Ireland, and Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline.

'The parameters of a final package are clear and it will deliver a deal worth more in new trade opportunities than under any previous round. It will bring certainty, greater stability and generate confidence. If they fail to seize this last chance, the Doha agenda will effectively become moribund,' they warned.

Further reading:

No more false dawns for Doha