The eight candidates for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) passed their hearing before the 164 members in Geneva, from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17, July to defend their ideas and answer questions. First overview.
The ideal replacement for Roberto Azevêdo will have to meet the multiple challenges facing this almost moribund organisation: bringing all members back to the table, moving forward in these negotiations, unblocking the dispute settlement mechanism and stemming the rise of protectionism (see EUROPE 12523/20).
What better message to launch this reform than to see it orchestrated by a managing director who offers an alternative? To date, no woman or national from the African continent has led the WTO.
In the eyes of the general public, these elements could play against the British candidate, Liam Fox (who hastened to promise that half of his senior staff would be female).
In front of the members, the former British Secretary of State for Trade played the neutrality card, showing himself, for example, sensitive to some of Washington’s arguments on the role of the Appellate Body (the US representative would have limited his questions to candidates on this subject alone, according to a Bloomberg journalist).
A “strong advocate of free trade”, he reiterated his support for a rules-based multilateral system, dear to Europeans, and defended measures that safeguard sustainability. “The European Union will choose a candidate who is most in line with the values and the aspirations for global trade that the European Union has”, he said in response to the question of European support at a press conference on 16 July.
But the uncertainties surrounding Brexit and the difficulties encountered by his country and the EU in reallocating their tariff quotas could work to his disadvantage (see EUROPE 12370/17).
Mr Fox expressed confidence that there is an incentive not just to reach an agreement with the EU “because it is good in itself for the two parties, but because it’s a sign of confidence in that global economy that we can set the conditions fair for the recovery”.
Can a Mexican succeed a Brazilian? Jesús Seade shows an impressive track record as a negotiator at the WTO, but also in the USMCA negotiations with the United States and Canada. His programme may be ambitious, but his vision is clear and his answers nuanced. His dynamism seems to have made a good impression, but there is no indication that he has Washington’s support.
The African candidates have impressive curricula. The Kenyan, Amina Mohamed, Minister of Sports and former Minister of Trade, can put forth her experience as an ambassador to the WTO. As for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Nigerian Minister of Finance, Chair of the Board of Directors of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and former Chief Operating Officer of the World Bank, her lack of experience in commercial matters should not work against her. For the EU, the WTO does not need technocrats, but someone with political stature who has experience in working out compromises (see EUROPE 12497/16).
Her profile is the exact opposite of Egypt’s Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, who is familiar with the workings of the WTO, but who has no similar political experience.
But the three African candidates are suffering from their own competition; they risk not having the support from part of their continent.
As for the Saudi, Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, former Minister of Economic Development and a former banker, his profile does not seem to have the assets that would ensure him the support of public opinion.
Another female figure and experienced negotiator, the South Korean Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee, could, on the other hand, seduce Europeans in that she comes from a country that also has a “green” economic recovery programme (see EUROPE 12517/2, 12516/13). But Japan, which has tense trade relations with Korea, could veto it, according to sources close to the WTO.
On the basis of experience, Tudor Ulianovschi, former Moldovan Foreign Minister, comes out the loser. Although he has been a delegate to the WTO, this 37-year-old candidate has few years of experience under his belt. Others have not failed to present themselves as an old-hand in politics, such as Liam Fox, who said that he carries “the scars of different battles”.
This second phase of the candidates’ campaign with members will close on September 7. It will be followed by two months of internal consultations to assess preferences and determine the candidate best placed to generate consensus.
The statements: https://bit.ly/2CGZkNc (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)