WTO Urges G20 Leaders to Use Trade to Bolster Economic Recovery

WTO Urges G20 Leaders to Use Trade to Bolster Economic Recovery

Alan Wolff urged participants at the summit chaired by Saudi Arabia to reform the institutions that govern global trade.

"With respect to trade, there are three immediate challenges: to utilize trade to help underwrite the economic recovery, to facilitate trade in essential medical products to treat the pandemic, and to reform the institutional framework for world trade,“ said Wolff.

"First, trade finance for the developing world needs to be restored. The sum needed is very large, in the trillions of dollars. This step has been called for by business and by all the major international development banks along with the WTO. This is not just a development issue. When crops do not move and factories are idled throughout the developing world, the global recovery will be delayed for all. Close co-operation among the international financial institutions, the WTO and the large commercial banks will be needed. A trade finance initiative should be seen as an essential part of improving the outlook for economic recovery.

"Second, it is time for WTO Members to come together to agree on and implement measures to speed the supply of essential medical products worldwide to where they are needed.

“¢ Global trade in pharmaceuticals should be duty-free under an