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The nomination process for the office of the director-general of the World Trade Organisation has finally closed, and all the candidates for the WTO top job are now known.
There are eight candidates in the race; three from Africa, two from Europe, one from the Middle-East, one from North America, and one from Asia.
In the race are three women — Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Amina Mohammed and Yoo Myung-hee — and four men. If any of the women win, she would become the first female WTO DG since the organisation was set up 25 years ago.
WTO: Reps Asks Egypt And Kenya To Step Down For Okonjo Iweala
Anaedoonline.com reviewed the biography of all seven candidates and here is how they stand:
JESÚS SEADE KURI
| COUNTRY | MEXICO |
|---|---|
| Age | 73 |
| Occupation | Chemical Engineer, economist, diplomat, politician |
| Current job | Undersecretary for North America in Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Education | Chemical Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); master and PhD in economics from the University of Oxford |
| Previous international jobs | World Bank chief economist; founding deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization; senior advisor at the IMF; vice-president of Lingnan University in Hong Kong |
| Previous local jobs | North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiator for Mexico |
| Current international jobs | Professor of Economics at Lingnan University in Hong Kong |
| Awards | N/A |
| Selling point | Experience in the creation of WTO and at its highest level of governance |
| WTO experience | Worked at the WTO from inception till October 1998 |
| Quotable quote | “Digital trade is an opportunity to expand availability, choice and lower the price.” |
| Quick fact | Speaks all official languages of the WTO — English, Spanish and French |
TUDOR ULIANOVSCHI
| COUNTRY | MOLDOVA |
|---|---|
| Age | 37 |
| Occupation | Politician, diplomat |
| Current job | Senior Vice President at Grasshopper Energy |
| Education | A Ph.D. candidate at the Free International University of Moldova |
| Previous international jobs | Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva; President of the Trade and Development Board at UNCTAD, Vice President of the General Assembly at WIPO, President of the Steering Committee on Trade at UNECE. |
| Previous local jobs | Foreign minister of Moldova; Moldovan Ambassador to Liechtenstein and Switzerland; |
| Current international jobs | None |
| Awards | Moldova distinguished personality of the year – 2018 by VIP Magazin; Man of the Year 2019 by Aquarelle media |
| Selling point | Experience at the highest level of the WTO |
| WTO experience | Chair of the Balance of Payments Committee of the WTO; Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization |
| Quotable quote | “No one should be left behind; this is not just a simple phrase, it is important to have an inclusive approach.” |
| Quick fact | The diplomat who speaks English, Russian, French, Arabic and Romanian has 15 years of experience in diplomacy and international trade |
MOHAMMAD MAZIAD AL-TUWAIJRI
| COUNTRY | SAUDI ARABIA |
|---|---|
| Age | 60 |
| Occupation | Pilot, banker, politician |
| Current job | Royal Court advisor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
| Education | B.Sc Aeronautics at King Faisal Air Force Academy, MBA from King Saud University |
| Previous international jobs | Group managing director, deputy chairman and CEO at HSBC, UAE. |
| Previous local jobs | Former minister of economy and planning; managing director and CEO of JP Morgan, Saudi Arabia; head of risk management, Saudi British Bank. |
| Current international jobs | None |
| Awards | N/A |
| Selling point | Representing a large bloc — middle east and north africa |
| WTO experience | None |
| Quotable quote | N/A |
| Quick fact | If he wins, he would be the first WTO DG from an Arab nation |
AMINA MOHAMED JIBRIL
| COUNTRY | KENYA |
|---|---|
| Age | 58 |
| Occupation | Lawyer, diplomat, and politician |
| Current Job | Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage, and Culture in Kenya |
| Education | LLM in International law from the University of Kiev, Ukraine and Postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the University of Oxford, UK. |
| Previous International Jobs | Chair of the International Organization for Migration, chair of the World Trade Organization’s General Council, assistant secretary-General of the UN and deputy executive director at UNEP. |
| Previous local Jobs | Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Cabinet Secretary for Education |
| Awards | Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (Cav.O.S.S.I.); Life Member of the Red Cross Society; Honorary Doctorate from KCA University; Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2017) |
| Selling point | Experience at the highest level of the WTO |
| WTO Experience | She ran for the office of the DG in 2013 but lost to Roberto Azevedo, the current DG |
| Controversy | Ran against the AU candidate for the WTO top job in 2013 — both lost |
| Quotable quote | “The best years of this organisation (WTO) are not in the past, they are in its future; there is always a golden past, but the best is never in the past” |
| Fun fact | She speaks Somali, English, Russian, Swahili and has a working knowledge of French |
LIAM FOX
| COUNTRY | UNITED KINGDOM |
|---|---|
| Age | 58 |
| Occupation | Medical doctor, politician and diplomat |
| Current job | Member of the British Parliament since 1992 |
| Education | Studied Medicine at the University of Glasgow |
| Previous international jobs | None |
| Previous local jobs | Secretary of state for international trade; secretary of state for defence; general practitioner (Medical doctor); chair of the Conservative Party; parliamentary under-secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs; lord commissioner for treasury. |
| Current international jobs | None |
| Awards | N/A |
| Selling point | Experience in international trade |
| WTO experience | None |
| Quotable quote | “Above all, trade has been the greatest liberator of the world’s poor, harnessing the forces of globalisation to spread prosperity and lift millions from poverty.” |
| Quick fact | Fox supported Brexit, and may not get EU votes |
YOO MYUNG-HEE
| COUNTRY | KOREA |
|---|---|
| Age | 53 |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
| Current job | Minister of trade |
| Education | Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School, and masters in public policy from Seoul National University |
| Previous international jobs | None |
| Previous local jobs | Presidential spokesperson; deputy minister for FTA negotiation; First Secretary (2007-2008) and then Counsellor (2009-2010), Korean Embassy in China; Director-General for Bureau of Trade Policy |
| Current international jobs | None |
| Awards | N/A |
| Selling point | Experience negotiating trade at the highest level of governance in and out of the WTO |
| WTO experience | None |
| Quotable quote | “South Korea can become a bridge, connecting developing countries and advanced countries” |
| Quick fact | She is regarded as the “devil’s advocate” in Korea, due to her aggressive trade negotiations, and she is the first woman to become minister of trade in Korea — after 70 years of male domination. |
ABDULHAMEED MAMDOUH
| COUNTRY | EGYPT |
|---|---|
| Age | 68 |
| Occupation | Lawyer, diplomat |
| Current job | Senior Counsel at King & Spalding LLP |
| Education | Juris Doctor degree at Cairo University |
| Previous international jobs | Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO; secretary of the WTO Council for Trade in Services since the establishment of the WTO in 1995. |
| Previous local jobs | Trade negotiator with the diplomatic service of Egypt |
| Current international jobs | Visiting Professor at Queen Mary London University |
| Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award by The Coalition of Service Industries |
| Selling point | Experience at the highest level of the WTO |
| WTO experience | Worked at the WTO from inception in 1995 till October 2017 |
| Quotable quote | “Successful relationships don’t only depend on the extent to which we agree, but mostly on how we deal with our differences.” |
| Quick fact | Speaks Arabic, English and French |
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA
| COUNTRY | NIGERIA |
|---|---|
| Age | 65 |
| Occupation | Development economist, diplomat |
| Current job | Chair, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance |
| Education | Bachelor’s in economics from Harvard University and PhD in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Honourary degrees from over a dozen universities worldwide. |
| Previous international jobs | MD of the World Bank; co-chair of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation; UN Secretary General’s high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda |
| Previous local Jobs | Two-time minister of finance in Nigeria; minister of foreign affairs. The first female to take up both jobs. |
| Current International Jobs | Board member at Twitter, Standard Chartered Bank, and African Risk Capacity; co-Chair of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate; member Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) international advisory board; IMF external advisory board; AU special envoy. |
| Awards | Global Finance Minister of the Year 2005 by Euromoney; Top 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2014 by TIME Magazine, 2014; Top 100 Global Thinkers 2011, 2012 by Foreign Policy; the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World by Forbes Magazine 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; National honours from Nigeria, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire. |
| Selling point | Experience at the highest level of the World Bank, and easily one of Africa’s most trusted technocrats |
| WTO Experience | None |
| Quotable quote | “The best way to help Africans today is to help them to stand on their own feet. And the best way to do that is by helping create jobs.” |
| Quick fact | Kidnapper who held her mother captive requested her resignation as minister of finance for her role in seeking transparency with fuel subsidy payment in Nigeria. She refused. |
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