Trade Cooperation Essential for Fairer, Greener and Resilient Economies, says WTO DDG

Deputy Director-General Anabel González joined Dr Fred Olayele, host of the podcast “Inclusive Economics for Impact”, to discuss the role of trade in promoting more resilient, greener and fairer economies and societies. Dr Olayele is the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

During the podcast, DDG González emphasized the need to accelerate the implementation of trade-facilitating measures to help ease the continued disruptions plaguing global supply chains and to expand the participation of small businesses in international trade. While some of the drivers of current supply chain bottlenecks may be temporary, others, especially the surge in electronic commerce, may prove permanent, highlighting the need to strengthen the resilience of supply chains going forward, she said.

On the impact of trade measures during the pandemic, DDG González noted that the overall picture is better than many people feared when the pandemic first struck. She said that several governments temporarily eliminated tariffs, eased or digitized customs procedures, introduced green lanes for medical products and their inputs, or streamlined regulatory approval requirements, helping to keep markets broadly open and supply chains for essential goods moving. Nonetheless, there is significant room for more trade cooperation to help achieve global vaccine equity, which is still a long way off, she said.

DDG González also addressed the role of digitalization in helping make trade more inclusive. She highlighted the importance of improving access to gender-disaggregated data, finance and training to help women seize the trade opportunities of electronic commerce.

On sustainability, DDG González highlighted the key contribution of trade in fighting climate change and helping countries adapt. Trade co-operation could help reduce the many trade barriers that increase the cost and slow down the deployment of climate-friendly goods, services and technologies, she said. DDG González also noted that strengthened trade co-operation was essential to ensure that climate measures such as border carbon adjustments do not cause unnecessary trade frictions, which would undermine the predictability and stability needed by green investors.

DDG González said that the WTO provided many opportunities to pursue a pragmatic, forward-looking trade agenda to address the challenges of the 21st century. She noted that WTO members are innovating and experimenting with new, more flexible cooperative approaches to advance work on everything from e-commerce and services regulation to investment facilitation and small businesses, and from climate change to plastics pollution.