WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization’s incoming chief told Reuters on Monday that her top priority was to ensure the WTO does more to address the COVID-19 pandemic and said she was confident her priorities were aligned with those of the Biden administration.
“A very top priority for me would be to make sure that prior to the very important ministerial conference … that we come to solutions as to how the WTO can make vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics accessible in an equitable and affordable fashion to all countries, particularly to poor countries,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was selected earlier on Monday as the next director-general, told Reuters in an interview.
She added that she had a “very good conversation” with advisers from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. “I think our interests and priorities are aligned. They want to bring the WTO back to (its) purpose.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
