Nigerian, South Korean women to vie for WTO leadership

[October 08, 2020]  By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee are the final candidates to head the World Trade Organization, ensuring the 25-year-old WTO will have its first female leader.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala poses outside a Nigerian diplomatic residence in Chambesy, near Geneva, Switzerland, September 29, 2020. REUTERS/Emma Farge

The WTO said on Thursday that the two women were the remaining candidates for director-general after the field was cut from five to two, confirming what Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The winner will replace Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down a year earlier than expected at the end of August. The WTO aims to find a successor by early November.

"Both of the women that are in the final round are remarkably well-qualified. This is something on which everyone has agreed," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters, making the announcement at WTO headquarters in Geneva.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, a former Nigerian finance and foreign minister, is an economist and development specialist now serving as board chair of global vaccine alliance Gavi. She has said the WTO should play a role in helping poorer countries access COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.

Yoo, 53, South Korea's trade minister, is pitching herself as an experienced operator on trade in challenging times after clinching deals with the United States, China and others, while supporting global rules.

Kenyan sports minister Amina Mohamed, Saudi royal court adviser Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri and British ex-international trade minister Liam Fox dropped out of the race after failing to get sufficient backing from the WTO's 164 members.

The WTO will hold a third and final selection round on Oct. 19-27, with a view to having a director-general in place by early November, when the U.S. presidential election also takes place.

"I don't think the domestic political situation of any country has really entered into this at all, as far as I can tell," Rockwell said, when asked if the election had had an impact.

The winning candidate will face formidable challenges with rising global tensions and protectionism during a COVID-induced slowdown, most obviously between China and President Donald Trump's U.S. administration, as well as pressure to drive reforms.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Emma Farge in Geneva and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Michael Shields and Catherine Evans)

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