La Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted both the vulnerability and resilience of supply chains and called for measures to mitigate the sharp rise in maritime transport costs recently recorded.
During a meeting on Wednesday (10.11.2021) with WTO delegates and representatives from academia and the private sector, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also noted that supply chain bottlenecks “have emerged as a significant risk weighing on the broader post-pandemic recovery in economic output and trade.”
In that line, Anabel González, Deputy General Manager, proposed “to do everything possible to reduce trade impacts, especially in small businesses around the world.” “
“Doing so is vitally important to ensure that all countries, especially the poorest, can boost their post-pandemic economic recovery…” he added.
The WTO press release indicates that participants pointed to some useful elements to strengthen global supply chains such as: implementation of trade facilitation measures, acceleration of automation and digitalisation, and adoption of market opening in transport and logistics services.
Speakers noted the particularly acute impact of rising shipping costs on the trade prospects and competitiveness of developing countries, in particular for small island developing states, net food-importing developing countries and landlocked countries.WTO Press Release)
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