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Ivira is 66 years old this year, has dual citizenship, Nigerian and American citizenship, served twice as Nigerian Minister of Finance and briefly as Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The selection of the new Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has entered the final stage. The U.S. Trump administration opposed the appointment of Nigeria’s former finance minister, meaning the four-month selection process has run into obstacles.
As usual, the appointment of the Director-General of the WTO is subject to the unanimous consent of the 164 member states. America’s opposition does not mean that Ivira cannot be named, but the United States can still influence the final decision. Britain’s “Guardian” quoted sources in Geneva as saying that the US position could be affected by the results of the presidential elections on November 3 next week.
On Wednesday (October 28), the WTO Nominating Committee recommended that 164 members nominate Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala). If she is successfully appointed, she will become the first woman in the WTO and the first Director-General of African descent.
But the United States, which has criticized the WTO for dealing with unfavorable global trade, hopes that another woman will take care of it: South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (Yoo Myung-hee). The United States says it can reform the WTO.
In its critique of the WTO, the Office of the US Trade Representative, which advises Trump on trade policy, stated that the WTO “should be run by someone with practical experience in this field.”
The bureau issued a statement stating that Yu Mingxi “stands out” as a trade expert and “has all the necessary skills to become an effective leader of the organization.”
The statement also read: “For the WTO and international trade, now is a very difficult period: there have been no multilateral tariff negotiations for 25 years, the dispute settlement mechanism has gotten out of control and there are very few member countries that comply. basic transparency obligations. The WTO must do it urgently. Great reform. “
Earlier Wednesday, after discussing the appointment at a meeting of WTO representatives, spokesman Keith Rockwell said that only one member country does not support Ivira.
He said: “With the exception of one (member state), all the delegations that spoke today expressed their support for this process.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted several people present or who had knowledge of the situation as saying that the governments of dozens of countries were quick to express their opposition to the United States, saying that the United States is trying to obstruct and weaken this regulator of global trade.
Rockwell said WTO members will hold a general council meeting on the selection of the director-general on November 9 and hopes to make a decision on the final candidate for director-general by then. He told reporters there may be “frenzied activity” to ensure the final appointment is agreed.
Although some African countries, the Caribbean and the European Union have expressed support for Ivira, many members, including China and the United States, refuse to publicly announce their preferences.
Ivira
Image source,Reuters / WTO
Ivira (left) and Yu Mingxi (right) are candidates for Director-General of the WTO.
The powers of the WTO Director-General are subject to the ambassadors of the 164 member states. As Alan Beattie of the British “Financial Times” put it, the CEO is more of a “butler who organizes meetings than a teacher who decides what everyone does”.
The United States criticized the WTO for favoring China and Trump threatened to withdraw from the WTO. In the context of counter-globalization, the new corona epidemic has caused a decline in trade and increased trade protectionism, the new WTO Director-General faces many challenges.
Both Ivya and Yu Mingxi have experience in politics and international trade, and both graduated from American universities.
Ivira is 66 years old this year, has dual citizenship, Nigerian and American citizenship, served twice as Nigerian Minister of Finance and briefly as Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During her career, Ivira spent most of her career as an economist at the World Bank. Over time, he was promoted to the role of executive vice president and was basically considered the number two figure in the organization. She has always been a candidate for the bank’s chief executive, but she failed.
Ivira is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) that promotes the equitable global distribution of vaccines.
During his career, he has not dealt primarily with the details of trade policy. But as a development economist and finance minister, she still has to deal frequently with international trade affairs.
Yu mingxi
Yu Mingxi is more of a trade expert. She is 53 years old and is the current trade minister of South Korea and the first woman in command. During her 25 years of service in the South Korean government, she has repeatedly held titles such as “the first vice minister / minister” and is known as the “person who breaks the roof of the workplace”.
He said the year of his birth coincided with South Korea’s accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which is a key factor in determining how the WTO operates.
He began engaging in trade-related work when the WTO was established in 1995. During this period, he participated in some key trade negotiations with South Korea, including negotiations with China and the United States. He stressed that “he has a deep understanding and insight into the details of various areas of the trade agreement.”
