World Trade Organisation D-G: Okonjo-Iweala Qualifies For Next Stage

BY SEYIFUNMI LUMEKO

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named among the five candidates that will proceed to the next stage in the race for the position of the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.

In a statement on Friday, the WTO said member countries showed a preference for five out of the eight candidates who expressed interest in the position.

The body, however, dropped three candidates from the contest.

It also plans to reduce the contestants to two final candidates in the next few weeks.

“Their expertise and high professional and personal qualities are highly valued and respected by all members,” WTO General Council Chairman, David Walker, said in a statement on Friday.

The second phase of consultations would begin on September 24 and run until October 6 after which the WTO would announce two final candidates.

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The goal was to name a new leader by November 7.

Those left in the race are: Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, Saudi Arabia’s former minister of economy and planning; Liam Fox, the UK’s former secretary of state for international trade; Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade minister; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril, Kenya’s former international trade minister