The fight for the top job at the World Trade Organization, which oversees global trade practices and efforts to reduce tariff barriers, goes into a second day on Wednesday with four candidates making their case, three of them from developing countries.
In all, a record nine candidates are vying to replace Frenchman Pascal Lamy who finishes his second four-year term in August. The main high-profile challenge for the WTO and its next leader is how to revive the stalled Doha Round of trade talks, launched in 2001.
Of the four candidates making their case on Wednesday, the only one from an advanced economy, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser, is the first of the day to make his presentation. While he is widely considered well-suited for the job, observers say that he has little chance since the UN’s trade body this time appears set on picking someone from a developing nation.
Three candidates underwent the gruelling process on Tuesday: Ghana’s former trade minister Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez and Indonesia’s current tourism minister and former trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu.
Kyerematen, one of just two candidates from Africa — a region though likely to provide the next head of the WTO, told reporters after his interview that the main task for the next leader was “for us to revitalise what I think is an extremely important organisation, (which) is a great global asset that has contributed significantly to the expansion of the global economy.”
Gonzalez, one of three candidates from Latin America, another strongly tipped region, meanwhile insisted she was “ready to assume the position of director general with independence, passion and responsibility.”
Pangestu, who some say has less chance of being nominated since Asia recently had the WTO leadership through Lamy’s predecessor Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand, ended the first day insisting that she was “a tough negotiator.”
She told reporters “don’t let the smile fool you,” and argued that the WTO would be well-served by having a woman at the top. “I am a strong believer that there should be more capable women in the top levels of all institutions,” she said.
Groser of New Zealand will be followed on Wednesday by high-level United Nations executive Amina Mohamed of Kenya, Jordanian former trade minister Ahmad Thougan Hindawi and finally Mexican economist and former minister Herminio Blanco Mendoza.
During the interviews, candidates are given 15 minutes to present themselves and their vision for the WTO. They are then questioned for an hour and 15 minutes by the WTO’s general council.
During the final day of interviews on Thursday, South Korean Trade Minister Taeho Bark and Brazilian diplomat and envoy to the WTO Roberto Azevedo will go through the process.
The WTO’s General Council is mandated with selecting the director general by consensus, and candidates who stand little chance of being selected are expected to withdraw of their own volition.
The decision must be made no later than May 31, and the nominee will take over at the WTO on September 1.
New Zealander takes the stand in day two of fight for WTO job
