Brasilia, 20 April 2022 (TDI): The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, held a two-day visit to Brazil to discuss world trade and the perspectives for the 12th WTO Ministerial Meeting.
Foreign Minister Carlos França received the Director-General in Itamaraty Palace, the office of Brazil’s foreign ministry. During the meeting with the WTO chief, the Brazil Foreign Minister expressed the high priority that Brazil gives to a fair and stable multilateral trading system capable of promoting economic growth.
The Foreign Minister declared that Brazil is committed to ensuring that the 12th WTO ministerial meeting results in progress in negotiations on the four main areas. These areas include trade and health, agriculture, fisheries subsidies, and WTO reform.
Food Security
International food security and Brazil’s role in it were one of the central aims of the meetings.
Minister Carlos França emphasized the importance of the WTO’s contribution to global food security at a time of instability in food production.
Moreover, he showed Brazil’s willingness to be part of the solution to this important challenge.
Furthermore, the WTO chief met the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, to further discuss international food security. She discussed the fertilizer crisis and the need to strengthen multilateralism with the President.
Likewise, she said in a statement, “Brazil’s high productivity agriculture can be part of the solution to the food crisis”
On her first day of the visit, the WTO Director-General Okonjo-Iweala gave a lecture at the Rio Branco Diplomat Institute. In addition, she met Brazilian parliamentarians from the Agricultural Parliamentary Front and representatives of the agribusiness sector.
In her speech, she addressed the challenges to multilateralism and pointed out potential ways forward.
She declared, “…as we watch the devastating war in Ukraine and struggle with solutions to global common challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. In the arena we are focusing on – that is, global trade and economic governance – multilateralism faces serious challenges”.
Furthermore, she met with representatives of the National Confederation of Industry and the Federation of Industries of São Paulo.
