Egypt, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom have nominated candidates for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to succeed Roberto Azevêdo. On 10 July, WTO General Council Chair David Walker (New Zealand) announced accelerated timelines for the next phases in the selection process to elect Azevêdo's successor.
El May 14th, Azevedo announced who will step down on 31 August 2020, shortening his second term as WTO Director-General by one year. According to the procedures for the General Director selection process, adopted by WTO members in 2002, the Chair of the General Council is required to initiate consultations with WTO members on the selection as soon as possible and “may establish expedited time frames as necessary in consultation with Members.”
After consultations, the May 20th Walker announced that a one-month period had been agreed during which members could send your nominations for the position. Nominations were accepted until July 8.
El 8 June, Mexico nominated a Jesus Seade Kuriwho is performance as Mexico’s lead negotiator in the creation of the WTO, Deputy Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and Deputy Director-General of the WTO. Seade was also Mexico’s lead negotiator for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
El 9 June, Egypt nominated a Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh. The biography Mamdouh says that after his work as a negotiator for Egypt (since 1985), his involvement in the WTO as a senior official dates back to 1990.
El June 9, Nigeria nominated a Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that had been appointed recently African Union (AU) Special Envoy to mobilize international financial support for the fight against COVID-19 and World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy to access COVID-19 Accelerator tools.
El 16 June, Moldova nominated a Tudor Ulyanovschi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova.
El 24 June, the Republic of Korea nominated a Yoo Myung-hee, the first female Minister of Commerce from the country whose career in commerce spans 25 years.
El July 7th, Kenya nominated a Amina C. Mohamed, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya who presidio all major decision-making bodies of the WTO, including the Ministerial Conference in 2015, the General Council in 2005 and the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body in 2004.
El July 8th, Saudi Arabia nominated a Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, former Minister of Economy and Planning of the country with a "long career in banking."
El July 8th, United Kingdom nominated a Liam Fox, member of parliament and former UK International Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade.
General Council President Walker, announced Furthermore, following its discussions with WTO members, the second phase of the process, in which candidates "make themselves known to the members," will expire on September 7, one month earlier than the three months normally taken.
On that date, the third and final phase of the selection process will begin. In this phase, General Council Chair Walker, together with Dispute Settlement Body Chair Dacio Castillo (Honduras) and Trade Policy Review Body Chair Harald Aspelund (Iceland), will consult with all WTO members “to assess their preferences and try to determine which candidate is best placed to attract consensus support.” The third phase of the process may involve more than one consultation stage and "will not last more than two months."«. Walker said he would discuss with members specific procedures for the third phase in the coming weeks. [WTO press release on the timetable for the Director-General selection process]
Candidates meet with WTO members in a special meeting of the General Council on 15 and 17 July to present their views and answer members' questions.
As a new Director General will not be selected by 1 September, in accordance with the 2002 procedures, the General Council will "appoint one of the existing Deputy Directors General to act as Acting Director General until the appointment of a new Director General. The four deputy directors general are Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria), Karl Brauner (Germany, ), Alan Wolff (EE. UU) And Yi Xiaozhun (China).
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