DG Okonjo-Iweala Welcomes Switzerland’s President Alain Berset to the WTO

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with Swiss Confederation President Alain Berset on 26 January. They discussed the importance of multilateralism and the successful outcomes achieved at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022. They also discussed how to build on those positive results in preparing for the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference, to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi in the week of 26 February 2024. An important part of that work will be dedicated to the WTO reform process, they underlined.

Other key topics of discussion included agriculture, trade and health, climate change and e-commerce. DG Okonjo Iweala complimented Switzerland for being the first WTO member to formally submit its acceptance of the WTO’s new Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 20 January, paving the way for this historic agreement to enter into force.