Champion of economic freedom dies aged 71
TRIBUTES were paid to Irish national Peter Sutherland yesterday after the World Trade Organisation’s first director-general and former chairman of energy giant BP died at the weekend after a long illness.
Sutherland, who also served as an EU commissioner, a UN special representative on migration and chairman of Goldman Sachs International, part of the US investment banking giant, died in a Dublin hospital aged 71.
“It was with great sadness that I learned of Peter Sutherland’s passing,” WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said.
“Peter was a great man and a great friend of the global trading system. He was instrumental in laying the foundation for the WTO and the multilateral trading system as we know it.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker described Sutherland as a true European.
“He believed strongly in the work of the EU and other international organisations and their importance for cooperation and international dialogue,” he said.
Irish President Michael D Higgins said Sutherland had left an important legacy.
“Tirelessly campaigning for global solutions to human trafficking and forced migration, he became a passionate and influential voice for the rights of the 65 million people who have been forced to flee their homes and homelands,” he said.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted that Sutherland had been “a statesman in every sense of the word. An Irishman, a committed European and a proud internationalist. He was a champion for individual and economic freedom. RIP.”
Beginning his career as a lawyer, Sutherland rose to become attorney-general of Ireland, before taking the role of EU commissioner responsible for competition policy.
He became director-general of the WTO in 1995 and two years later was appointed chairman of BP.
“Peter was a great chairman and an even greater champion of Europe,” BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said.
“He led the BP board for 12 years, through a period of immense change, helping establish BP as one of the super-majors.
“On the broader world stage, Peter made a huge contribution to European and global trade.
“And through his volunteer efforts he helped improve the economic condition of millions of migrants.”
Among his other achievements, Sutherland helped to establish the Erasmus programme that allows EU students to study at different universities within the bloc.
He leaves a wife and three children. – AFP