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WTO Candidates Emphasize Experience, Confidence on 2nd Day of Presentations

The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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WTO Candidates Emphasize Experience, Confidence on 2nd Day of Presentations

The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

As Saudi Arabia’s candidate for the presidency of the largest international trade organization - is expected to unveil his program, the Moldovan and South Korean candidates agreed that the World Trade Organization (WTO) needed to regain the members’ confidence and to launch a series of reforms.

WTO candidates will be presenting themselves until next Friday. They will have a few weeks until September 7 to persuade the capitals, which will choose the next president during a special meeting in Geneva.

This comes after Brazilian Roberto Azevedo suddenly announced leaving his post in mid-May, and officially giving up his duties at the end of August, a year before the end of his term.

On Thursday, candidates Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova and Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea, underlined in their speeches the need to reform the WTO work mechanism and to restore confidence by enabling it to keep pace with the 21st century’s world trade.

In his address to the WTO members, Ulianovschi said the organization was not related to the global community today and must demonstrate its importance and do more. He noted that he presented his personal vision for the reform to the organization’s advisory council.

The Moldovan candidate said the top priority for the Director-General next year was to revitalize the organization’s functions, including its negotiating ability and the involvement of all members in the global discussions.

He added that the second priority was to revive the WTO’s judicial function. As for the third priority, he emphasized the need to enhance the principles of transparency and strengthen the supervision within the international organization.

Ulianovschi has assumed the post of Foreign Minister of Moldova from January 2018 to June 2019. He held other diplomatic positions, including his country’s ambassador to Switzerland, and has diplomatic experience of about 15 years.

For her part, Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, presented her vision for the WTO, stressing that the organization should become “a supreme court” in international trade matters.

She also said that the WTO was at a crossroads, and therefore needed a more confident reform process and integration into the global trading system.

“The world has changed and countries have changed, so there is a need to reorganize global trade,” she stated.

On Thursday, candidates Jesus Seade Kuri from Mexico, Abdel-Hamid Mahmoud of Egypt and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria revealed their programs in front of 164 members of the council.

Other candidates include former British Minister of International Trade Liam Fox and former Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Muhammad Al-Tuwaijri.

Saudi Arabia attaches great hopes to its candidate’s victory, especially after the strong confidence expressed by the international community in the Kingdom’s role in the global economic scene.

Al-Tuwaijri held a number of meetings with WTO officials, member-states and regional groups, on the sidelines of his visit to Geneva to present his candidacy speech to the Organization’s General Council.

He met with Roberto Azevedo, the current WTO director-general, the ambassadors of Arab countries and the group of Article XII which consists of 38 members, in addition to the Latin American and Caribbean group of 33 members, in the presence of the permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the organization.

Al-Tuwaijri is expected to present his candidacy statement to the organization’s general council this Friday, following which he will hold a press conference with media representatives.

The Saudi minister’s nomination comes amid major global challenges in the trade system and reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to driving economic growth and achieving sustainable development.

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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged.
The Commerce Department reported that the nation's gross domestic product — the nation's total output of goods and services — picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year, The Associated Press reported.
Consumer spending, the primary driver of the economy, grew last quarter at a 2.8% pace, down slightly from the 2.9% rate the government had previously estimated. Business investment was also solid: It increased at a vigorous 8.3% annual pace last quarter, led by a 9.8% rise in investment in equipment.
The final GDP estimate for the April-June quarter included figures showing that inflation continues to ease, to just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank’s favored inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at a 2.5% annual rate last quarter, down from 3% in the first quarter of the year. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation grew at a 2.8% pace, down from 3.7% from January through March.
The US economy, the world's biggest, displayed remarkable resilience in the face of the 11 interest rate hikes the Fed carried out in 2022 and 2023 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Since peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022, annual inflation as measured by the consumer price index has tumbled to 2.5%.
Despite the surge in borrowing rates, the economy kept growing and employers kept hiring. Still, the job market has shown signs of weakness in recent months. From June through August, America's employers added an average of just 116,000 jobs a month, the lowest three-month average since mid-2020, when the COVID pandemic had paralyzed the economy. The unemployment rate has ticked up from a half-century low 3.4% last year to 4.2%, still relatively low.
Last week, responding to the steady drop in inflation and growing evidence of a more sluggish job market, the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflected its new focus on shoring up the job market now that inflation has largely been tamed.
Some other barometers of the economy still look healthy. Americans last month increased their spending at retailers, for example, suggesting that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and high borrowing rates. The nation’s industrial production rebounded. The pace of single-family-home construction rose sharply from the pace a year earlier.
And this month, consumer sentiment rose for a third straight month, according to preliminary figures from the University of Michigan. The brighter outlook was driven by “more favorable prices as perceived by consumers” for cars, appliances, furniture and other long-lasting goods.
A category within GDP that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a healthy 2.7% annual rate, though that was down from 2.9% in the first quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Though the Fed now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department also issued revisions to previous GDP estimates. From 2018 through 2023, growth was mostly higher — an average annual rate of 2.3%, up from a previously reported 2.1% — largely because of upward revisions to consumer spending. The revisions showed that GDP grew 2.9% last year, up from the 2.5% previously reported.
Thursday’s report was the government’s third and final estimate of GDP growth for the April-June quarter. It will release its initial estimate of July-September GDP growth on Oct. 30.