"WTO Chief Election May Be Delayed Due to COVID-19"

Bloomberg Report: Partial Lockdown at WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

Yoo Myung-hee and Okonjo-Iweala advance to the final round of the WTO chief election
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The selection of the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) may be delayed by at least a month due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, according to reports.

Bloomberg News reported on the 2nd (local time) that the Geneva Canton authorities, where the WTO headquarters is located, have implemented partial lockdown measures including a ban on gatherings of more than five people for about a month starting from that day, citing the spread of COVID-19.

The news agency predicted that this could affect the confirmation of Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the WTO Director-General.

The agency stated, "WTO senior officials are discussing whether to postpone the plan to hold a General Council meeting on the 9th to officially approve candidate Okonjo-Iweala."

Earlier, on the 28th of last month, the WTO held a meeting of ambassador-level representatives from all member countries and recommended Okonjo-Iweala, who was the runoff opponent of Yoo Myung-hee, head of the Trade Negotiations Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as the next Director-General candidate.

Meanwhile, the United States supports Yoo Myung-hee, raising the possibility that the proposal to recommend candidate Okonjo-Iweala at the General Council could be rejected.

If the General Council meeting is postponed due to the COVID-19 situation, there is also a possibility that the outcome of the U.S. presidential election could be reflected in the WTO Director-General selection, but the news agency presented a different perspective.

The agency said, "Even if candidate Joe Biden is elected (as several polls suggest), the WTO selection process may not proceed quickly," adding, "He would only take office on January 20 next year if elected, and stimulus measures and COVID-19 response would take priority over WTO issues."

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