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GENEVA: World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Sunday (June 12) expressed cautious optimism that more than 100 trade ministers meeting in Geneva would reach a global deal or two this week, but warned that the way there would be bumpy and rocky.
The Director-General from Nigeria said the world had changed since the last WTO ministerial conference almost five years ago.
“I wish I could say it better. It’s certainly gotten more complex,” she said at a pre-meeting press conference, listing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and major food and energy crises as parts of a “polycrisis”.
She urged trade ministers to go one step further in the coming days to strike deals such as reducing fisheries subsidies, improving access to COVID-19 vaccines, food security and paving the way for reform of the WTO itself.
“Let me be clear, even landing one or two isn’t going to be an easy trail. The path will be bumpy and rocky. There could be a landmine on the way,” Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that she was “cautiously optimistic” the meeting would end in a deal or two.
She also warned ministers not to expect to achieve everything on their countries’ wish lists and to recognize that compromises are never perfect.
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