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Unfolding Stories
Where next for WTO after breaking the logjam?
Time will tell whether it was beginner's luck for Okonjo-Iweala, or, more likely, sheer determination and an effective negotiation strategy.
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T
he World Trade Organization may feel this week like it has risen from its slumber after striking breakthrough agreements, but the global trade body remains far from firing on all cylinders.
"We succeeded, and we are determined to continue," WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala boasted as she wrapped up the first ministerial conference under her leadership, having taken over the reins with gusto in March last year.
The talks at the WTO's Geneva headquarters were meant to conclude after four days on Wednesday last week, but went round the clock into early Friday as the former Nigerian finance and foreign minister pushed on for results.
Despite feeling "exhausted" after two sleepless nights, she talked up the WTO's role in addressing major global challenges.
"When I started this job, the expectations of the WTO were not very high," she said, with the organization often branded as dysfunctional, sclerotic and unable to reach big decisions.
But now, "we've shown that the WTO can produce outcomes".
The conference concluded with deals on curbing harmful fishing subsidies, bolstering food insecurity and temporarily waiving patents on COVID-19 vaccines.
