Who will be the new head of WTO
Who will succeed Azevedo, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? The final selection of 8 into 1 was officially opened on July 15.
In May, the current Director General Azevedo suddenly announced that he will officially resign on August 31, ending his term one year earlier. This forced the WTO to start the selection of successors in advance.
The first phase is the nomination period, which starts on June 8 and ends on July 8. For the selection of the last Director General, the nomination period is 2 months.
Finally, during the nomination phase, a total of eight candidates from Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, Moldova, South Korea, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom were formally nominated.
In accordance with common practice, after the nomination, the second phase of the three-month period will begin. Candidates for the Director-General need to show themselves to WTO members, express opinions and accept questions on relevant issues of the organization, so that WTO members can fully familiarize themselves with the candidates Situation.
However, on July 10th, the WTO announced on its official website that the candidate's "election" link in the selection process of the new Director-General will be shortened to 2 months. In this way, the selection of the Director General of the current WTO has been reduced by two months.
However, even in this hurry, from the perspective of the schedule, it is still difficult to select a successor before the current Director General Azevedo’s term ends.
According to the regulations, if it is still impossible to decide on the candidate for the new director-general by August 31, the general council will temporarily appoint the current director-general as acting director-general until the new director-general is appointed. Obviously, Azevedo's retirement plan has been delayed.
In any case, from July 15th, 8 candidates began to appear one by one, and gave a speech to the Council at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, and then held their own press conferences within three days according to the rules. Organize the official website for online live broadcast.
According to the schedule of the WTO, candidates from Mexico, Nigeria and Egypt took the lead on the 15th; candidates from Moldova, South Korea and Kenya appeared on the 16th; candidates from Saudi Arabia and the UK ended on the 17th.
Among the eight candidates, there are three female candidates, namely Okonyo-Ivera in Nigeria, Mohammed in Kenya, and Yu Mingxi in South Korea.
No matter who is elected among the above-mentioned three people, it will become the first female head in WTO history. At the same time, no matter who is elected, Okonyo-Ivera and Mohammed will become the first WTO Director-General from Africa.
Of the three, Oconyo-Ivilla was the former Executive Vice President of the World Bank, and he was better at finance, but his trade experience may be slightly inadequate.
Muhammad was the first woman to serve as chairman of the WTO General Council, and also chaired almost all the key functions of the WTO. In 2013, Muhammad lost to Azevedo in the director general election.
Yu Mingxi is also good at trade and is Korea’s first female trade minister, but she may be boycotted by Japan due to trade disputes between Japan and South Korea.
Another possibility to become the first African-directed WTO Director-General is Mamdu, who has dual Swiss and Egyptian nationalities. If elected, he will also be the first WTO director-general from an Arab country.
Another candidate from the Arab countries is Saudi Arabian Al-Twairi, currently serving as an advisor to the Saudi Royal Court on international and local economic strategic affairs.
The candidate for Moldovan Ulyanovsky is the hope of the first WTO Director General in Eastern Europe. He is also the youngest candidate for Director General this time.
In addition to these six, Mexican candidate Shi Yade was the deputy director general of the WTO, and also worked for the International Monetary Organization and the World Bank. It can be described as a collection of work experience of the three major international economic organizations.
After the eight candidates have fully demonstrated themselves, in September, the third phase of the selection of the Director General of the World Trade Organization will begin.
The chairman of the WTO General Council, the chairman of the dispute settlement body and the trade policy review body will start consultations with all WTO members to evaluate their opinions and seek to identify the candidates that most attract consensus support.
According to the news released by the WTO on the official website, the third phase will last no more than two months.
The current Director-General of the World Trade Organization has left the work in advance, and the WTO is now facing a difficult time. Of the 8 candidates, who can bring new hope to the fair and sustainable development of international trade?