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WTO director-general knocks G20 heads together
In a high-level forum organized by the G20 Trade, Investment and Industry Working Group (TIIWG) on Tuesday, Word Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala said strategic rivalry was a "reality of our times" but should not hamper economic development.
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World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (left) converses with MC12 chair Timur Suleimenov at the opening ceremony of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) at the WTO headquarters in Geneva on June 12, 2022. (AFP/Martial Trezzini)
As boycotts and other diplomatic maneuvers still haunt cooperation in the Group of Twenty forum, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has called on governments to settle their differences and find solutions to the current global economic crisis.
In a high-level forum organized by the G20 Trade, Investment and Industry Working Group (TIIWG) on Tuesday, WTO Director-General Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala said strategic rivalry was a "reality of our times" but should not hamper economic development.
Previously, differences between member states over foreign policy prevented communiqués that could be agreed by all parties in the second and third meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG).
"If the governments represented at the G20 cannot find ways to work together, the world will be unable to effectively address problems of global concern, from climate change to pandemic preparedness, to the detriment of everyone," she told the forum's participants.
She noted that G20 member states were not having as much trouble finding common ground in WTO negotiations, where they were able to reach agreements recently.
From June 12 to 17, WTO member states negotiated in Geneva under the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to revise the current multilateral trading system, which resulted in several agreements known as the Geneva Package.
According to the WTO website, both the United States and Russia attended the conference, with the former represented by trade representative Katherine Tai and the latter by Deputy Economic Development Minister Vladimir Ilichev.
