New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) Former Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala could be the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation, as she is the front runner in the race to lead the multilateral body, tasked to regulate the trade agreements.
The Harvard and MIT educated Okonjo-Iweala is also the current head of the board of the public-private Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), of which India is a partner and has contributed USD 15 million.
She seem to be emerging as a consensus candidate of the 164 member countries of the Geneva-based WTO, which announced on Thursday that the contest was between Ms Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee.
Media reports indicated that some countries such as China and Japan have reservations on the Korean nomination.
If selected on Tuesday, Ms Okonjo-Iweala would be the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO, which is facing rising protectionism, the US-China trade war and supply and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Ms Okonjo-Iweala said that she would give priority to reform the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
A skilled negotiator and development professional, who has served across continents, the current head of GAVI is a firm believer that trade can lift developing countries out of poverty.
UNI SRJ RJ 1846