Buffeted by crises, WTO chief predicts rocky, bumpy road ahead at global meet
India Today
World Trade Organisation chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala predicted a “bumpy and rocky" road as members entered the meet with diverse stands on challenges like pandemic preparedness, food insecurity and overfishing of the world's seas.
At a time when its fate is on the line, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) threw open the highest level meeting of trade ministers and predicted a “bumpy and rocky" road as members entered the meet with diverse stands on challenges like pandemic preparedness, food insecurity aggravated by the Ukraine-Russia war, overfishing of the world's seas.
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, “Will the road to deliver at this MC12 be smooth? No absolutely not. I expect a rocky, bumpy road ahead with a few landmines on the way. We'll have to navigate those landmines and see how we can successfully land one or two deliverables.”
At a time when the WTO is caught between criticism by a large number of countries for delayed and inappropriate responses on key issues, and a lobby of entrenched developed nations pushing for favourable outcomes, Director-General Ngozi said, “What matters to me is that whether when we conclude on Wednesday, I am able to say that I was the DG who stood behind WTO members as they came together and delivered results at a time when the world needed the most to do so.”
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Admitting that the global trade monitor needs reforms, Okonjo-Iweala emphasised that while trade has facilitated the rise of 1 billion people out of poverty, poorer nations and their people are being left behind.
She underlined that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought about food insecurity as blockaded ports have curtailed exports of 22-25 million tons of grain from a key European breadbasket.
After the last several months-long pause brought by the pandemic, the start of the WTO MC12 witnessed countries splitting up economies and supply chains into political blocs. With rivalries like the one between China and the US, the concept of “friendshoring” value chains to develop economic relations with politically allied nations is being promoted, threatening the building block of WTO’s multilateralism.
