World Trade Organisation Chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Friday said India should be a leader of the reform process at the WTO. She said that India’s economy is growing at a healthy pace and it is a leader in areas such as technology. She said that there is a need to look at areas in the WTO which are not working and discuss ways to correct that.
“...and here India can be a leader, India should be a leader in the reform process at the WTO. India should be a leader in making sure that we do not stay in a system that becomes more power based instead of rules based,” Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said here at CII’s partnership Summit 2025. She added that India is a fast growing economy and has the scale and credibility to provide leadership not just in this region but globally.
Referring to high tariffs imposed by the US, she said the member nations should pay attention to the concerns flagged by America.
India too has flagged concerns on issues like public stockholding, she said adding repeating past grievances will not help to build a strong global trading system. She appealed to all the members of the WTO to work together to strengthen the global trading system. The US has raised concerns over the way WTO arms are functioning and has called for reforms in the WTO including in its dispute redressal mechanism.
WTO is a 166-member Geneva-based multilateral body that deals with trade related issues. India has been a member since 1995. The WTO also said that a country may need bilateral trade agreements to push their growth but “you also need a multi-lateral system to move forward.
“That is why the WTO is important,” she said, adding the world is witnessing huge disruptions in global trade at present.
