Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, as of yet until the end of August, current WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo announced his resignation, said Donald Trump: “The WTO is terrible.” He has to be right?
John knight
a correspondent for politics and business in Switzerland.
F. A. Z. Twitter
The WTO is a vital organization. It contributes to the prosperity of the world and helps to bring people out of poverty. Multilateral agreements benefit all countries, because they guarantee stability, Fairness, predictability and transparency in the international exchange of goods. But it is also clear that The WTO has serious problems that must be solved, in order to regain their former significance again.
The organization has, for years, on the spot. New multilateral agreements are hardly possible. She’s not really at the end?
If that were so, I would not be a candidate for the WTO top. The multilateral negotiations on fisheries subsidies run promising. In the event this agreement to the Ministerial conference can be completed in June next year, that would be the proof that the WTO is back in the game, and to deliver results.
How to set up a WTO should look Reform?
The WTO needs a refresher. You need to your rules in the 21st century. Century adjust. The us led by the protectionist responses to the Corona pandemic: there are Currently more than 90 countries, the export restrictions on medicines, medicine imposed by technical devices, and food. If vaccines against Covid-19 are available, we need trade rules that ensure that countries that do not have their own vaccine production, are supplied at affordable prices. This can be done in a way that also respects the concerns of intellectual property. With this topic should refer the matter to the WTO necessarily. In a pandemic, it is only as secure as the weakest link in the chain. No country is safe as long as not all countries are safe.
The Americans, the WTO-dispute-paralyzed system. How could be solved this Blockade?
Without a System that guarantees the observance of trade rules, the WTO is not functioning properly. We need to reach out to the Americans and listen to what they have to say. You have a point. There may have been cases in which the appellate body of the WTO members to the agreements reached acted. I think that there are ways that the concerns of the Americans on the functioning of the court of appeal to resolve. Who leads the WTO in the future, must play an active role and dialogue among the members of the power full forward.
the danger Is that the WTO is stuck between the super powers, China and the United States?
This is exactly what we want to avoid. The United States and China have in common is that they want both a functioning WTO. You have to show these countries that the WTO has been in the past. What is missing is mutual trust. Here we need to build bridges.
To your personal Motivation: Why do you want to be Head of the WTO?
I am running for the Post, because I believe in the power of the rule-based trade. There are still many ways, countries that see themselves as globalization losers, to achieve greater prosperity. We have seen this in the past: trade is a development tool that has led millions of people out of poverty. At the same time, rich countries benefit. Trade is not a zero-sum game, but it will also promote overall sustainable development in the world.
