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The new Director General (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, took office calling on members to ‘do things differently’ to achieve the reforms needed to maintain the relevance of the world trade body.
She pledged to start with swift action to reduce harmful fishing subsidies and to help scale up the production and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In his inaugural address in Geneva, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who was made available to the Ghana News Agency by the WTO, noted that the high expectations for his tenure could only be met if members were willing to compromise and reach agreements.
She suggested that MC12’s prospects for success would be enhanced if members targeted a manageable number of outcomes for this year and put in place longer work programs to address issues that could not realistically be resolved. within this period.
“I am delighted to be with you in Geneva even if the circumstances do not yet allow us to all find ourselves in the same room,” she said.
“Let me first of all express my gratitude to our President, Ambassador Walker, the incoming President Dacio Castillo and Ambassador Aspelund for their hard work and persistence in bringing me here.
“As I take up my role as CEO, I would like to thank MEPs once again for the kind wishes and support that many of you expressed two weeks ago when you made history in m ‘electing.’
She said: “I remain honored and moved by the trust MPs have placed in me. I will bring all my knowledge, my passion, my experience and my perseverance to the task at hand, reforming the organization and achieving results. “
The DG said she was aware that expectations were high and that she was sure to do everything possible to move the WTO forward; stating that “however, it is a member-driven organization, so I cannot do it without you, I cannot do it without the cooperation of staff and management”.
“We are involved in a tripartite partnership. Each partner must play their part if we are to achieve results.
“The high expectations of my leadership also mean that I have high expectations of you to help me deliver,” she added.
“I said it. It can’t be business as usual. We need to change our approach, from debate and rounds of questions to getting results. “
Regarding Covid-19, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said there was a demand for trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) waiver for Covid-19 vaccines by a growing number of developing countries and as the dialogue intensified.
“Meanwhile, I suggest that we ‘walk and chew gum’ while also focusing on the immediate needs of dozens of poor countries that had not yet vaccinated a single person,” she said.
“People are dying in poor countries. We just had our first shipment of COVAX to Ghana last week and more will follow but it will not be enough.
In addition, she was concerned that the issue of scarcity of supply was causing some countries to outbid COVAX and divert supplies.
The CEO said the world has a normal production capacity of 3.5 billion doses of vaccine and they are now looking to manufacture 10 billion doses.
“It’s just very difficult, so we need to focus on working with businesses to open and license more viable manufacturing sites now in emerging markets and developing countries,” she said. .
“We have to get them to work with us on the transfer of know-how and technology now.”
Dr Okonjo-Iweala said there will soon be a global manufacturing convention where they will look to build this partnership.
“I also hope that we can start a dialogue and exchange of information between us and representatives of manufacturers’ associations from developing and developed countries. It should happen soon so that we can save lives. “
She said that this would be an interim solution while they continued the dialogue on the TRIPS waiver.
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