MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) Incumbent Director-General of World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo will on Thursday hold his last press conference in this capacity before stepping down on August 31, one year earlier than his second four-year term was set to end.
The press conference will start at 13:00 Geneva time on Thursday (11:00 am GMT) and will likely cover the process of selecting a new director-general (DG) of WTO as well as the current state of affairs in the international organization. On Friday, Azevedo will present his mid-year report on trade-related developments before the WTO Trade Policy Review Body.
Azevedo, a Brazilian diplomat, announced his plans to step down in mid-May, saying that WTO needs a more energetic leader, as it is basically "stuck" with internal problems. His resignation comes as the WTO is suffering from a crisis over its mechanism for resolving disputes between members after Washington paralyzed it by blocking new appointments to the Appellate Body last year. US President Donald Trump said that the WTO needed a major reform and suggested that the United States might withdraw from the organization.
Last week, eight candidates running for the office of DG held presentations before the WTO General Council. The list of candidates includes Liam Fox, a former UK international trade secretary and Amina C. Mohamed, a former Kenyan minister for foreign affairs and international trade, among others.
The selection process might last up until November 7 and in the meantime, one of the DG deputies will be selected to serve as an acting chief of WTO. However, no decision on who would be appointed as an acting DG has been made yet by the WTO General Council.
