At the opening of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé on 26 March, parliamentarians and business leaders handed over two documents to the MC14 Chair, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala calling for urgent (...)
On 26 March, the opening day of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), the six co-coordinators of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) — Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco — presented a ministerial statement and a package of (...)
The United Kingdom has contributed GBP 500,000 to the WTO's Global Trust Fund and GBP 1 million to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) — support totalling approximately CHF 1.56 million — to enhance the capacity of developing economies, including least developed countries (LDCs), (...)
In two separate contributions, the government of China has pledged USD 1.1 million (close to CHF 900,000) for 2026 to support the WTO’s Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) and Accessions Programme (also known as the China Programme) as well as the general fund that supports WTO technical (...)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called for strong partnerships to meet the objectives of Phase Three of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a mechanism aimed at leveraging and coordinating support for trade and investment priorities in least-developed countries (LDCs). The new phase (...)
At a high-level event on women and trade held on 25 March in advance of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference, trade officials marked the progress made in enhancing women entrepreneurs' access to international markets. We are no longer just talking; we are delivering, WTO Director-General Ngozi (...)
In Yaoundé on the eve of the 14th Ministerial Conference on 25 March, a group of ministers underscored the central role of services trade in supporting development and emphasized the importance of WTO-World Bank efforts to help developing members overcome challenges. Director-General (...)
The 14th China Round Table on WTO Accessions, held on 25 March on the margins of the 14th Ministerial Conference, highlighted the role of WTO accession in fostering domestic reform, economic integration and development, looking particularly at the experience of African countries. At the (...)
At a high-level event on 25 March, on the eve of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, ministers of 128 WTO members participating in the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement showcased initiatives with global partners to support implementation of the Agreement and (...)
The outlook for world trade in 2026 will be shaped by two powerful and opposite forces. On the one hand, the extraordinary momentum of investment in artificial intelligence (AI) continues to energize global demand for high-tech goods and digitally delivered services. On the other hand, the (...)