On 18 February, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged World Trade Organization (WTO) members to leverage the organization as a platform for dialogue and engagement in addressing the global trade tensions shaping the current economic landscape. Speaking at the first 2025 meeting of the WTO’s General Council, she emphasized the need for unity in strengthening the multilateral trading system.
“We must continue to reinforce the multilateral trading system, ensuring that it remains a pillar of stability and opportunity for all members,” DG Okonjo-Iweala stated. “The WTO was created to navigate challenges like these—to provide a space for dialogue, prevent trade conflicts from escalating, and support an open and predictable trading environment.”
She encouraged members to utilize the WTO’s mechanisms to engage constructively and collaboratively. “Let us make full use of this platform to engage in good faith, address concerns calmly and constructively, and explore cooperative solutions that enhance global trade relations.”
Following her remarks, representatives from 32 member nations took the floor, reaffirming the WTO’s critical role in fostering economic growth, particularly for developing and least-developed countries. Many speakers emphasized the importance of upholding WTO principles and exercising restraint in actions that could undermine the global trading system.
DG Okonjo-Iweala highlighted her ongoing discussions with WTO members regarding the broader geopolitical landscape and the organization’s role in addressing emerging trade challenges. “Amidst today’s uncertainties, we must remain level-headed and open to dialogue,” she said.
She also announced that the WTO Secretariat is enhancing its Tariff Analysis Online database in response to member feedback. The upgraded system, renamed WTO Tariff and Trade Data, will launch at the Committee on Market Access meeting on 4 March. “This user-friendly platform will facilitate tariff and trade analysis,” she noted, assuring members of the Secretariat’s support in navigating emerging tariff issues.
Emphasizing the urgency of WTO reform, DG Okonjo-Iweala called on members to seize the current moment as a turning point. “I encourage all of you to view this as an opportunity to think strategically about the organization’s future and how we can make it more results-driven,” she stated.
She underscored the expectations of global leaders, ministers, and stakeholders for the WTO to address long-standing issues and respond to modern trade realities. “It is time to return to the negotiating table with purpose,” she added.
Among the WTO’s key priorities for early 2025, DG Okonjo-Iweala stressed the need to advance negotiations on agriculture, ensure the entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, complete the second phase of fisheries subsidies negotiations, and integrate the plurilateral Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) and the Agreement on Electronic Commerce into the WTO framework. Additionally, she highlighted the importance of continuing progress on dispute settlement reform and development issues.
“The world has changed,” DG Okonjo-Iweala concluded. “We cannot continue to operate as we have in the past. It’s time for meaningful action.”
