SEE ALSO:
press releases
WTO news
Mike Moore's speeches
Renato Ruggiero's speeches,
1995-99
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Being from a developing country and having devoted most of my professional life to
working on trade issues, I am fully convinced that the development goals of our countries
could be best served by a strong multilateral trading system. We need more rules not less.
It is the effective implementation of all countries' commitments, not less compliance that
will make the system work better."The WTO
guarantees that it is law, not force that rules in international trade relations. If the
WTO did not exist we might have to invent it. All countries should have a stake in making
the system work. At the same time, to have a workable trading system the concerns of all
participants, big and small, developed and developing, strong and weak should be fully
taken into account. Otherwise, we may run the risk of losing legitimacy and, at the end,
debilitating the system itself.
"I
feel extremely happy and honoured to join Mike Moore and all the WTO staff, and look
forward to working with them in this critical time. I am sure I will learn a lot from them
all. Our task is very challenging. Just a few years ago, the Uruguay Round succeeded in
fundamentally reshaping the multilateral trading system. The scope of the WTO is much
wider than that of its predecessor, the GATT, and it deals more and more with policies and
regulations. However, reshaping the system may be an ongoing and never-ending process as
new rules and further adaptations may be needed for the WTO to keep pace with
technological change and the accelerated evolution of the world economy." |
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