A woman will assume
for the first time the general direction of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
, the main body that establishes international rules and works to resolve disputes for global exchanges of goods, after a South Korean and a Nigerian woman became the finalists of the selection process for that position.
The selection committee announced Thursday that former Nigerian Finance Minister
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
and South Korean Trade Minister
Yoo Myung-hee
qualified for the final round in a contest that is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.
Both women were chosen from a pool of five candidates.
"They are both remarkably well rated. It's a point everyone agrees on," said WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell.
"They have impressed us from the beginning," he added.
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The General Council of the WTO, based in Geneva, excluded Amina Mohamed, the former Kenyan Trade Minister;
Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, former Minister of Economy of Saudi Arabia, and former UK Secretary for International Trade and Brexit proponent Liam Fox.
"Deeply grateful and honored to be chosen for the final round in the selection process for the next WTO Director-General!" Tweeted Yoo, who has a
law degree from Vanderbilt University.
"We need a new capable and experienced leader who can rebuild trust and restore the relevance of the WTO. I look forward to your continued support! Thank you !!!"
Okonjo-Iweala, a Harvard graduate,
also thanked WTO members for their support via Twitter and wrote that she was "happy to be in the final round."
In the previous round, the list of candidates was reduced from eight to five.
The winner is expected to be announced no later than early November.
The former director general of the WTO, Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, unexpectedly announced in May that he would advance his retirement from office by one year due to a "personal decision."
He left on August 31 without completing the process to designate a successor.
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The body in charge of regulating trade between the 164 countries that comprise it faces challenges never seen before, in the words of its now former director general.
At the beginning of 2020, Azevedo acknowledged that "the
increasing uncertainty surrounding market conditions is causing companies to postpone their investments
. What WTO governments do to address these difficulties will influence the course of the world economy in the coming decades ".
And that did not consider the economic difficulties that many nations of the world face today due to the crisis that the additional effects of the coronavirus pandemic have generated.