New Head Of WTO Expected To Carry Out 'Profound' Reforms - European Commission

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) European Commission's Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis says the World Trade Organization (WTO) will need to carry out major reforms after it selects its new Director General.

"Let me start with the WTO, which is currently selecting its new Director General. The discussions today have shown strong agreement amongst ministers that the EU needs a Director General, who is capable of managing a profound reform of the organisation," Dombrovskis said at the Monday informal meeting of EU trade ministers.

According to Dombrovskis, the WTO reform should focus on fixing the dispute settlement system, reinitiating global trade negotiations, and addressing the current challenges of international trade, in particular sustainability and the need for a level-playing field.

WTO's director-general, Roberto Azevedo (a Brazilian), announced that he was stepping down at the end of August and was heading for a job at PepsiCo Inc.

Last week, WTO said that the pool of director general candidates had been narrowed down to five people: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea, Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya, Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Liam Fox of the United Kingdom.