WTO to be led by female for the first time
(VOVWORLD) - The World Trade Organization will be headed by a woman for the first time in history as two candidates entered the final round of choosing a new director-general: former World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean Trade Minister Yu Myung Hee, said WTO General Council Chairman David Walker.
| South Korean Trade Minister Yu Myung Hee (left) and former World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
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Walker said that out of five candidates, two women were selected, who received the widest support from the WTO members, adding that one of them will become the seventh general director of the organization. The third round of consultations will take place from October 19 to 27. Walker noted that the general council will have to approve the new head of the organization, adding that this is likely to happen in the first half of November.
The previous general director of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, left office on August 31, not having completed a year before the end of his second term, officially for personal reasons. He has chaired the WTO since September 2013, and his second four-year term began in September 2017.