WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala seeks second term to complete 'unfinished business'
Okonjo-Iweala is first female head of trade body
Second term would start in 2025 if all states agree
Describes job as 'very tough' amid trade tensions
Adds quotes, details throughout
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, Sept 16 (Reuters) -WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will seek another four-year term as head of the World Trade Organization following a broad Africa-led push to start the process early, aiming to complete "unfinished business" from her first mandate.
Okonjo-Iweala, 70, a former Nigerian finance minister, made history by becoming the first female and African chief of the 30-year-old trade body in 2021.
"I would like to be part of this chapter of the WTO story and I stand ready to compete for the position," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on Monday in comments later confirmed by a WTO statement.
"For my second term, I intend to focus on delivering," she added, saying among the priorities were addressing "unfinished business".
These include a deal on ending fisheries subsidies and reaching a breakthrough in global agriculture negotiations, as well as reforming the WTO's hobbled disputes system and decarbonising trade.
Officially, she has until the end of November to decide whether to apply again. But the African-led move to start early, initiated in July before U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew from the election campaign and supported by dozens of countries, was seen as motivated partly by a bid to secure her second term ahead of the U.S. vote in November.
Under WTO consensus rules, that would be possible if nobody else applies and all states accept her.
In 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration blocked her appointment in a step seen by some as an attack on an organisation he once described as "horrible". She secured U.S. backing when Biden succeeded Trump in 2021.
Asked whether both she and the WTO could be successful if Trump is elected, she said: "I don't focus on that because I have no control."
"VERY TOUGH" JOB
Okonjo-Iweala is one of the few WTO chiefs in the body's history to land global trade deals, including the first part of a global treaty on cutting fishing subsidies agreed in 2022.
But a high-level meeting earlier this year yielded more meagre outcomes: the accession of two new members and a rollover on a deal to hold off from imposing digital tariffs. Since then some agreements such as a follow-up fishing deal have been blocked most clearly by just one member - India.
Okonjo-Iweala admitted to Reuters the job was difficult and that geopolitical tensions among its 166 members was a significant challenge.
"It is tough, you know, very tough. There's no getting away from that. But it's also a job that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning," she told Reuters.
Since the Trump the administration blocked judges in Dec. 2019 to the WTO's top adjudications court, leaving it unable to function, the watchdog has had limited scope to constrain the flouting of rules by members.
The policy has continued under Biden, although Washington is engaging on possible reforms which could eventually see some form of review system for disputes eventually revived.
Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Rachel More and Keith Weir
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
