Okonjo-Iweala Urges WTO Members to Meet Current Global Challenges
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has called on the organisation's members to step up efforts to deliver substantive outcomes at the upcoming 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, SWI between June 12 and 15, 2022.
Speaking at a meeting of the General Council in Geneva, she said:
“What the world needs right now is a responsive WTO, one that helps us meet the many challenges of our time and delivers on the aspirations of the people we serve.”
Okonjo-Iweala said in her role as Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC). “Ministers at MC12 can take an important step in this direction,
"That means we in Geneva need to properly lay the foundation for this to happen when ministers arrive in a few weeks.”
The WTO, she stated, has not held a Ministerial Conference since late 2017, adding that it was “only right that we do the preparatory work needed to make a success of an MC12 that has been in the making for nearly five years whilst we also contemplate what we need to do for life after MC12 and moving towards MC13.”
According to her,“This is our responsibility and I hope we can all act accordingly.”
Okonjo-Iweala said that she sensed a willingness to try to work towards some deliverables at MC12, including the importance of addressing the food crisis, the need to reach a credible WTO response to the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully concluding the negotiations on fisheries subsidies, making some progress on agriculture, and addressing reform of the organisation.
Others are building on the work done so far in the services negotiations, working towards a mutually acceptable path forward on special and differential treatment and reaching a shared understanding on how to address negotiating areas after MC12 are other deliverables sought by members.
She added: “I recognise that delegations are aware of the limited time left and the need to manage expectations.
“I likewise acknowledge the desire to work now on all pillars and work towards deliverables in a realistic fashion. Let us see what we can do and what we can deliver.”