Saturday, August 17, 2013

Team Azevedo

Roberto Azevedo, the WTO DG designate has announced his new team of Deputy Director Generals to take over in October. 

They are:

 - Yi Xiaozhun of China (Mr. Yi is a senior trade official in China’s Ministry of Commerce who has worked on international trade issues since the 1980s. He has served as China’s Ambassador to the WTO since 2011.)

 - Karl-Ernst Brauner of Germany (Dr. Brauner is a senior officer in the Federal Department of Economics and Technology who has been Germany’s representative to the Trade Policy Committee in Brussels for the last 12 years.  He has been involved with the WTO since the start of the Doha Development Agenda.)

 - Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria (Mr. Agah has been involved with international trade issues in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment since the early 1990s, including as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the WTO since 2005.  He was Chair of the WTO General Council in 2011.)

 -  David Shark of the United States ( Mr. Shark has been serving as the US’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the WTO since 2000 and has a long experience with GATT and WTO issues going back to the 1970s in the Office of the US Trade Representative)

The WTO website stated:
"The Deputies have been selected because of their outstanding commitment to the multilateral trading system and their extensive experience on WTO issues over many years.  They will be working directly with the Director-General to advance the interests of the Organization, including the preparations for the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali.  “Their specific skills and experience of these deputies will be immensely valuable to advancing the effective and efficient functioning of the WTO,” Azevêdo said.  
DG-Elect Azevêdo consulted extensively with WTO members in the selection of the DDGs.  This has enabled him to make sure that the qualities each of the Deputies will bring to their new positions will benefit the WTO and its future work.  While they come from different regions that symbolize the geographical diversity of the WTO membership, from 1 October they will be serving the multilateral trading system working with the Director-General as a team along with all WTO members."
The new team takes over in October 2013.

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