The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday charged global leaders to consider reforms in the global economic order in the face of the far-reaching disruptions to the global merchandize trade system triggered by the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
The renowned economist, who gave the charge in her speech during the opening session of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, urged the members to muster the political will needed to strengthen and reform the organization at a time of deep global uncertainty.
She said: “We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today. It is no secret that the world trading system is experiencing the worst disruptions in the past 80 years. The world order and multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed. We will not get it back.”
“The organization therefore must look to the future. That means figuring out what worked well in the old order, so we can keep it and build on it. It means figuring out what did not work well, so we can repair it. And it also means identifying the gaps in the renewed order we are shaping, so we can close them”, Okonjo-Iweala stressed.
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The WTO Director-General described MC14 as a turning point meeting and advised the ministers to brace up for the difficult choices ahead given the current whirlwinds in the global economic space
She clarified: “We have a work-filled and difficult four days ahead of us. It is now really up to you members to decide whether you want the organization to continue or you want to pull it apart.
“On my side, I am full of hope. Hope that collaboration and cooperation will be the order of the day. Hope that we shall all see the bigger strategic issues at stake for our organization and the people we are here to serve, and deliver tangible results. Hope that we will have the courage, in Kwame Nkrumah’s famous phrase, to ‘face forward.’”
In his opening address at the forum, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, who also chaired the MC14, described the WTO as the cornerstone of stability, predictability, and transparency in international trade, but stressed the need for reform.
He explained: “Reform must lead to a stronger, more effective WTO able to respond to challenges of today and restore confidence in the multilateral trading system.”
The opening session witnessed the formal adoption of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 15 September 2025 asTürkiye’s Minister of Trade, Ömer Bolat, promised that his country would no longer object to incorporating the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) into the WTO legal framework as a plurilateral agreement.
Some of the key topics on the MC14 agenda include advancing WTO reform, the e-commerce work programme and moratorium, agriculture, fisheries subsidies, development issues for least developed countries (LDCs), and the possible incorporation of the IFDA into the WTO rulebook.
Four ministerial sessions on WTO reform covering foundational principles, decision-making, development, and level playing field issues are scheduled for Thursday and today; and the sessions will be facilitated by ministers from Norway, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Costa Rica.
By tomorrow, dedicated ministerial sessions will address dispute settlement reform, fisheries subsidies, investment facilitation, e-commerce, agriculture, and development (including LDC issues), facilitated by ministers from the Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Nigeria, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Cameroon.
In addition, the forum, which is the second Ministerial Conference to be held in Africa, is expected to consider a draft Yaoundé Ministerial Statement on WTO Reform and Work Plan, along with other possible outcomes.
