Sobering Pragmatism at WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference

MC14 ended without results, underscoring rising tensions in global trade. At the same time, initiatives like the Trade + Sustainability Hub help sustain dialogue and cooperation.

At the end of March, the 14^th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC14) took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon. It came at a time of unprecedented pressure for the organisation and its principles, as Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated in her opening statement. Its sobering end with none of the substantive negotiation packages concluded is testament to the aggressive power politics the US, China, and India in particular have been playing, unwilling to pursue compromises for the greater good of a functioning global trading system, as Dr Axel Berger and Prof. Clara Brandi analyse in their article on the IDOS Sustainable Futures Blog.

Whilst plurilateral agreements and preliminary application of agreements by coalitions of the willing are an innovative way out and offer genuine glimmers of hope, they are not a viable long-term strategy for the WTO. As Axel Berger expands on in his comments on CNBC Africa and Frankfurter Rundschau, for those countries which continue to rely on a rules-based international trading system, including Europe, free trade agreements are more crucial than ever, as are joint reform efforts and cooperation politics among middle powers across all continents.

It is crucial to keep alerting and working towards the principles of the WTO even outside its formal structures where necessary. Against this background, the International Institute for Sustainable Development organised the Trade + Sustainability Hub for its fourth edition alongside the MC14. The Hub convened thought leaders from across all sectors to build bridges across trade and sustainable development, which are so urgently needed.

IDOS and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation co-hosted a Hub session on “Trade as a Driver of Economic Transformation in Africa: Manufacturing, services and investment”. Expert Speakers Benedicta Lasi, African Trade Chamber, Escipión Oliveira Gómez, International Trade Centre, and Trudi Hartzenberg, Trade Law Centre (tralac) discussed how the economic transformation in Africa can be advanced and in particular through the role of FDI and the WTO Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement.