Two women advance to the final round for WTO leadership

Members of the World Trade Organization selected two final candidates. Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee advance to the final round in the race for leadership of the Geneva-based trade body.

Okonjo-Iweala served two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister and one term as Foreign Minister. She has experience working for international governance bodies as a former managing director of the World Bank and as president of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

Yoo is the trade minister of South Korea. During her 25-year career in government, she has helped expand her country’s trade network through bilateral agreements with the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.

The chairman of the WTO General Council, David Walker, is scheduled to announce the WTO delegates’ results.

Liam Fox of the United Kingdom, Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril of Kenya, and Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia did not get enough support in the second round of the contest.

The final phase will end on November 6

The third and final phase of the process will begin at the end of this month and run until November 6.

Something that clouds the prospects for the selection process is the US presidential election on November 3. The WTO makes decisions by consensus, and the lack of US support for any of the finalists could mean delays in choosing who will lead the organization.

If WTO members do not reach a consensus selection, a vote requiring a qualified majority could be held as a last resort, unprecedented for the organization.

During the most turbulent period in its 25-year existence, the campaign for the WTO’s leadership is unfolding amid the pandemic, a global recession, the confrontation between the United States and China for trade supremacy, and the American elections. President Donald Trump has criticized the WTO as the worst trade deal in US history and has vowed to reform it to better suit the country’s interests.

The vacancy for the WTO’s highest rank arose when Brazilian Roberto Azevedo decided to resign at the end of August, a year before his term ended.

WTO members see the race as an opportunity to reorganize the institution. Protectionist policies around the world threaten its mission of economic integration.