World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed cautious optimism on Sunday that more than 100 trade ministers meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, will reach one or two global deals this week. , but warned that the path will be turbulent and with obstacles.
The director-general said that the world has changed since the last WTO ministerial conference, nearly five years ago. “I wish I could say for the better. It has certainly become more complicated,” she told a press conference ahead of the June 12-15 meeting, listing the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the broader food and energy crises as part of a “polycrisis”. .
In a speech to ministers at the opening of the conference, the WTO chief asked ministers to “show the world that the WTO can” assume its responsibilities and reach agreements on topics such as reducing fishing subsidies, expanding access to vaccines against Covid-19. , food security and setting a course for reform of the WTO itself.
“What remains to be decided requires the political will – and I know you have it – to get us to the finish line,” she said, warning that it will be a challenge.
Before the start of the ministerial conference on Sunday, she told a news conference that “even reaching one or two, it will not be an easy road”.
“The road will be bumpy and full of rocks. There could be a land mine along the way,” she said.
Source: CNN Brasil
