The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called for urgent reforms to modernise the 30-year-old institution and strengthen its ability to respond effectively to global trade challenges.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Okonjo-Iweala emphasised that the WTO’s consensus-based decision-making process, which requires unanimous agreement from all 166 member countries, has slowed progress and weakened the organisation’s responsiveness in a rapidly changing global trade environment.
“We need to reform the system; we cannot be complacent,” she said, according to Reuters.
“We need to reform some of the ways we do business, like our consensus decision-making system, which is practised as unanimity; everyone has to agree, so it really slows down decision-making.”
The WTO chief urged member countries to re-examine the organisation’s governance structure and operational framework, noting that its procedures were designed for a different era and now need to evolve to address new realities such as digital trade, climate-linked commerce, and growing geopolitical tensions.
Okonjo-Iweala also called on WTO members to constructively engage with the United States over its long-standing criticisms of the global trade watchdog. She acknowledged that many of Washington’s concerns were legitimate and required collective attention to restore confidence in the multilateral trading system.
“The fact that almost three-quarters of world goods trade is still going on under WTO terms is amazing,” she noted, adding that the resilience of the organisation amid rising trade barriers and unilateral measures shows that “the system is battered but not broken.”
She praised WTO members for refraining from large-scale retaliatory trade actions in response to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on several trading partners, describing it as a sign of restraint that has helped preserve the global trading order.
The call for reform comes at a time when the WTO faces increasing pressure to adapt to a fragmented global trade landscape marked by protectionism, supply chain disruptions, and debates over industrial policy. Analysts say the push by Okonjo-Iweala could set the stage for renewed discussions ahead of the next WTO ministerial meeting, where consensus-building and institutional modernisation are expected to dominate the agenda.
Okonjo-Iweala, who became the first woman and first African to lead the WTO in 2021, has consistently advocated for pragmatic reforms to make the organisation more inclusive, efficient, and responsive to the needs of developing countries.
Her latest remarks underscore the urgency of reshaping the WTO to remain relevant in a fast-evolving global economy.
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