SEVILLE, Spain, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday called for a stronger multilateral system for international trade at a round-table discussion held during the 4th United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development.

Speaking at the event in Seville, which was co-chaired by Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah and Melita Gabric, Slovenia's deputy minister of foreign and European affairs and minister of development, Sanchez said tariffs impede the global economy.

Industrial overcapacity and unfair competition are issues that need to be addressed, he said, but "responding with barriers only leads to collective defeat, because there are no winners in a self-enclosed economy."

The Spanish leader proposed restoring the World Trade Organization to a central role in global trade, in order to strengthen the multilateral system.

As well as revitalizing international trade, the round table also focused on ways to close the technological gap and provide more extensive access to digital infrastructure.

Scientific knowledge-sharing and cooperation are required, Sanchez stressed, appealing for greater openness and more generosity. "Without technological cooperation, there is no fair transformation and without inclusive innovation, there is no sustainable future," he said.

"If we continue to lock ourselves away in blocs, if we resign ourselves to isolation, we will all lose," Sanchez stressed, calling for open science and equitable access to knowledge. ■