Yoo Myung-hee Advances to 2nd Round in WTO Director-General Election... Competing with 4 Others Including UK

Yoo Myung-hee, Director-General for Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] According to Bloomberg News on the 18th (local time), Yoo Myung-hee, the Chief Trade Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, has passed the first round in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General election.

The news agency cited sources saying that WTO senior officials did not gain enough support for three candidates?Jes?s Seade of Mexico, Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt, and Tudor Ulianovski of Moldova?to advance to the second round.

The election will be held over three rounds, with eight candidates competing in the first round, and the three with the lowest support being eliminated. Yoo, who passed the first contest, will compete against Liam Fox, the UK Secretary of State for International Trade; Mohammed Mazyad Altwaizri, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning; Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s Minister of Culture; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Managing Director of the World Bank (WB) from Nigeria.

The WTO Secretariat announced that a General Council and delegation meeting would be held on the morning of the same day. Bloomberg reported that WTO senior officials planned to officially announce the first-round eliminated candidates that day. It is expected that David Walker, Chair of the General Council, who oversees the election process in the General Council, will announce the list.

The selection process for the next Director-General is expected to be completed by early November at the latest. This election was held following the sudden resignation announcement of Roberto Azev?do, the former Director-General, in May, with about a year left in his term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.