WTO DG Candidates Address the General Council
The four candidates for Director-General of the WTO addressed the WTO's General Council today, in what is being billed as the start of the campaign. Later in the day, three of them attended a "public hearing" sponsored by NGOs.
Candidates were given a chance to address the General Council and the Council was given a chance to ask them questions. Each had an hour to an hour and a quarter.
The WTO has posted a new web page dealing with the Director-General (DG) selection process. The page has detailed biographies, and copies of the statements the four candidates made to the Council: WTO | Director-General: Selection Process The Bridges Weekly Trade Digest summarized the candidates remarks: "DG Candidates Meet With General Council".
This story by Richard Waddington of Reuters is a good one: "Candidates Make Pitch for Top World Trade Job". Here's where we are:
"Wednesday's presentation of the candidacies marks the formal launch of campaigning, which will run until the end of March.
Then the head of the General Council, on which all states sit, will sound out members in a bid to cut the field, first to two and then just to one before the end of May."
The candidates have different strengths and weaknesses:
"Lamy's greater international renown may have made him an obvious early favorite, but Geneva diplomats warn that he is far from being a shoo-in to a job which carries much prestige but little in the way of real power.
Perez del Castillo is considered to have been highly effective as council chairman and is well respected in Geneva. Brazil carries much weight in world trade politics, while the Mauritian minister comes with the backing of African states."
This Agence France Presse is also good, providing more information on the arguments the candidates are making: "Four trade diplomats battle to win top job at WTO" (via TurkishPress.com).
The Uruguayan, Mauritian, and Brazilian candidates are pressing the claims of the developing world to a leadership position during the "development round" of trade negotiations:
"With much at stake, the candidates from Mauritius, Brazil and Uruguay pressed the need for developing countries, which form a majority at the WTO, to have a greater influence on the negotiations.
"We are in the middle of a development round, developing countries have a major stake in this round, therefore it is advisable in my view ... to have a developing country at the helm," Seixas Correa, Brazil's ambassador to the WTO, told reporters.
For his part, Cuttaree, who is currently the foreign minister of Mauritius, insisted that poor nations had the know-how to head the organisation.
"I don't think it would be proper to assume that if you want to have a competent person to run the WTO, that this person necessarily has to come from a developed country," he told a separate news conference."
This AP story ("4 Candidates Compete for WTO Leadership " (via Forbes) reports that, in certain circles, P�rez del Castillo is the current favorite:
"Ladbrokes, the world's biggest bookmaker, currently has Perez del Castillo as the 5-to-4 favorite. It did not provide odds for the other candidates.
Perez del Castillo laughed when told by the AP that he was the British firm's top tip. "I certainly think I have good chances, otherwise I wouldn't be running," he said. He said he has solid support in Latin America, aside from Brazil. He also is believed so far to have backing from several African and Asian nations."
Frances Williams reports in the Financial Times that France's Lamy and Uruguay's P�rez del Castillo may be the front runners:
" Still, the consultations aim to test not only the strength of support for each candidate but also its breadth and diversity and the degree of opposition. This, say some trade diplomats, should ensure a strong showing for Mr Lamy who, apart from EU support, is thought likely to receive backing from the US, Japan and a number of African, Caribbean countries with EU ties.
His main rival is seen as Mr P�rez del Castillo, a respected WTO �insider� whom supporters believe can attract the desired consensus. He claimed yesterday to have the �overwhelming� support of Latin American countries, as well as backing from other regions. Trade envoys say Mr Cuttaree, in spite of his formal endorsement by the African Caribbean Pacific group, may be the first to drop out of the race, because he is opposed by countries that fear he would not fight for freer trade. Mr Seixas Corr�a has struggled to make headway both in his own region and elsewhere."
("Race for leadership of WTO heats up".
Later in the day, three of the candidates, Lamy, Seixas Corr�a, and Cuttaree attended a question and answer session sponsored by several NGOs: the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Oxfam, and "3D: Trade-Human Rights-Equitable Economy". The session was webcast live, and a video of the session has been promised by around January 31: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The Bridges Weekly Trade Digest reported on the session: "DG Candidates Follow Up GC Hearing With Civil Society Meeting".
Revised January 27
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