Trade ministers from around the world gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday for a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting that aims to set new global commerce rules, but its ambitious chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and delegates sought to curb expectations.
The almost 30-year-old global watchdog, whose rules underpin 75 per cent of global commerce, tries to strike deals by consensus, but such efforts are becoming more difficult amid signs that the global economy is fragmenting into separate blocs.
“Let’s not pretend that any of this will be easy,” Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening speech, describing the atmosphere as “tougher” than the WTO’s last 2022 meeting, citing wars, tensions and elections and signs that trade growth will undershoot the organisation’s own estimate.
She called on ministers to “roll up their sleeves” and complete negotiations, but seemed to rule out any deal in Abu Dhabi on reforming the body’s mothballed appeals court. “We are not there yet,” she said.
Thani Al Zeyoudi, conference chair and UAE’s foreign trade minister said in an opening address: “The multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core is at a critical juncture; it is confronting many challenges. “The WTO remains a powerful force in countering the current unilateralism, protectionism, and discrimination.” Some delegates privately voiced concerns that India’s trade minister, seen as the main holdout on some key issues including agriculture, was absent on Monday although New Delhi said he would be in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.—AFP
