The UK will today nominate former International Trade
Secretary as the next Director-General of
the World Trade Organisation.
The Government believes he is the ideal candidate for the
following reasons:
-
He is a passionate advocate of multilateralism, and fully
committed to advancing the WTO and rules-based trading
system.
-
brings decades of experience in
global politics, as well as first-hand experience of running a
trade ministry.
-
He believes that rules based free trade underpins global
prosperity and security and that the benefits must be widely
shared for all citizens and countries.
Writing to the WTO today, the Prime
Minister will say:
“As the world seeks to recover from the shared challenge of
the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of free and fair trade has never
been more crucial.
“Dr Fox is a passionate advocate of multilateralism, who
brings detailed knowledge of the global trading system from his
years as a UK Cabinet Minister and Secretary of State for
International Trade. He has first-hand experience of the
political and technical challenges of negotiating trade
agreements, and the reforms that are needed to ensure the global
trading system truly delivers for all WTO members.”
, International Trade
Secretary, said:
“The new WTO Director General needs to be a fierce champion
of free and fair trade, an advocate of multilateralism, and be
able to get things done and increase the pace of reform.
brings all those things to the
table.
“He has experience making tough political decisions as a
former UK Trade Secretary, is committed to the fundamental
principle of free and fair trade and has excellent relationships
with WTO members around the world. He is the ideal candidate to
lead the WTO into a new era and help push forward much-needed
modernisation of the organisation.”
The Rt Hon MP said:
“I am honoured to have been nominated by the Prime Minister
to be a candidate to lead the World Trade Organization. I
believe that if we want to keep the WTO relevant and vibrant our
task is clear: Update. Strengthen and Reform. We must
ensure that global trade works for everyone.
“Trade is a way in which we spread prosperity more widely.
That prosperity underpins social cohesion, that social cohesion
in turns underpins political stability and that political
stability is the building block of our collective
security.”
The WTO announced earlier this year that its current
Director-General, Roberto Azevedo would step down from his post
in August, following 7 years in charge.
The formal selection process for the new Director-General
is run by the three most senior chairs of the WTO, the General
Council, Trade Policy Review and the Dispute Settlement
body.
The successful candidate must attract a consensus from all
member states and once appointed will serve a four-year
term.
