The Director-General (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, engaged with participants on their trade-related projects encompassing research, curriculum development, and policy outreach. These initiatives are implemented in collaboration with the WTO Secretariat.
“The Chairs network has a vital role to play in relaying to us the real problems and needs on the ground that should inform our agenda here in Geneva,” DG Okonjo-Iweala stated. “It functions like a set of eyes and ears for the WTO, bridging the gap between Geneva and the places you are based.”
The discussions included activities from the Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, which supports businesses, and the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, aiming to integrate gender considerations into trade discussions. The involvement of several chairs in the WTO Gender Research Hub was also emphasized.
DG Okonjo-Iweala highlighted a mandate from members at the 13th Ministerial Conference to advance work on trade and gender. “As we work towards the reglobalization of trade and towards putting the WTO on a solid footing for its next thirty years, members will continue benefitting from the innovative thinking and fresh perspectives [the Chairs network] brings to the WTO's legacy and to emerging issues,” she noted.
The Programme currently includes 35 universities. Earlier this year, DG Okonjo-Iweala visited Chairs in Chile, Peru, and Uzbekistan.
Trudi Hartzenberg, Academic Advisory Board Member of the Chairs Programme and Executive Director of the Trade Law Centre in South Africa, remarked: “The stakes for a multilateral trading system that makes trade work for all have never been higher. Rebuilding trust in the power of collective action to eradicate poverty, inequality and exclusion requires that we take bold and innovative steps supported by evidence-based research and policies. It also requires that we make sure that trade opportunities are accessible for marginalized communities, across and within countries.”
In upcoming months, the Chairs network will focus on projects related to digital trade, environmental sustainability, export diversification, the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, food security, as well as global and regional value chains.
More information on the Chairs Programme is available here.