"It is our objective to see the Doha round conclude on our watch," she said but "that can't be just any old Doha round. We're not going to sign up to a bad agreement just to get an agreement in 2008."

Suggesting a failure to reach a deal this year could delay an agreement indefinitely, Schwab said: "If you don't do it in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are not likely to help us accomplish it" because of the change in the US administration, a turnover in the leadership of the European Commission and a variety of other reasons.

For a deal to come together, rich countries such as the US and those of the European Union need to "really lean forward and make the tough decisions to make the tariff cuts and the subsidy cuts that we need to do," Schwab said.

But it also requires "this tier of advanced developing countries taking on a set of (market-opening) responsibilities that are more than other developing countries," she said.