GENEVA, June 12 (Reuters) – World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Sunday she was “cautiously optimistic” that one or two global deals could be struck this week in the occasion of the meeting in Geneva of more than 100 trade ministers, warning that obstacles could however hinder them.
The Nigerian politician highlighted how the world has changed since the last WTO Ministerial Conference nearly five years ago.
“I wish I could say better. It has certainly become more complex,” she said at a press conference before the meeting, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the major food and energy crises as elements of a “polycrisis”.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged trade ministers to make an extra effort over the next few days to reach agreements such as reducing fisheries subsidies, improving access to COVID-19 vaccines and food security, but also to initiate a reform of the WTO itself.
“Let me be clear, even getting one or two deals won’t be easy. The road will be bumpy and rocky. It could be mined,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, while saying he was “cautiously optimistic”.
(Report Emma Farge and Philip Blenkinsop, French version Benjamin Mallet)