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Geneva, October 29 (IANS): Former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been proposed to become the new Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Spokesman Keith Rockwell told a press conference on Wednesday that a key group of three WTO Ambassadors, the so-called “troika”, proposed Okonjo-Iweala as the new head of the Geneva-based organization in a closed-door meeting. , assessing that the candidate “had the best chance of achieving consensus from the members,” the Xinhua news agency reported.
However, “one delegation was unable to support Ngozi’s candidacy and said it would continue to support South Korean Minister Yoo. That delegation was the United States,” Rockwell said.
The “troika” is made up of the chairs of three important WTO committees: the General Council (GC), the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) and the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB).
They presented a short list after each round of consultations with WTO members until the third and final one, which ran from October 19 to 27.
Since the beginning of October, Okonjo-Iweala had faced the other candidate, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, in the final round of the race to become the new head of the WTO.
Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy will be approved at a meeting of the WTO General Council on 9 November.
The WTO leadership vacancy was created after its former boss Roberto Azevedo resigned on August 31, a year before the end of his official term.
Currently, the organization is headed by four deputies.
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