Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you all for joining us to launch this excellent publication.

I can only stay for a few moments — but I wanted to make sure I was here to say a few words.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find that birthdays are always an occasion to assess where we are, where we’ve been, and where we’d like to go.

So to mark the WTO’s twentieth anniversary I asked the secretariat to prepare a short book examining the challenges the organization has faced — and the progress it has made — since its launch in 1995.

On one level, the book is a factual and detailed summary of what has been accomplished by the WTO in two decades.

That means everything from the accession of new members and the resolution of trade disputes, to the negotiation of new agreements, the expansion of monitoring mechanisms, the scaling up of technical assistance work, and the launch of major public outreach initiatives — like the Public Forum. 

I’m not going to try to summarize all of these activities now — it is a long list. Instead, I will just urge you all to read the book. And when you do I think you’ll come to the same conclusion: the WTO has certainly not stood still.

On another level, the book invites us to re-think the perceptions and the reality concerning the success of the WTO.

Seen through the lens of news stories about negotiating deadlocks, street protests, and trade conflicts, public perceptions of the WTO have often been less than positive — to say the least. But if we stand back and take a broader historical view of the WTO, and its growing role in the global economy, then the reality of what has been achieved looks very different.

Thirty-three new members — a fifth of the WTO’s membership — has joined since 1995, including major economies like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia — meaning that we can talk for the first time of a truly global trade system. 

In just 20 years the WTO has handled some 500 disputes — compared with 300 cases handled by our predecessor, the GATT, during almost half a century. The effect of this has been to reinforce the rule of law — not power — as the defining element of international economic relations. 

Average MFN tariffs have been cut in half since 1995 — from over 16% to less than 8%. And over half of world trade now flows tariff free. This has helped to generate a two-and-a-half-fold expansion of world trade over these 20 years.

Just as importantly, the WTO has proven effective in sustaining and strengthening economic cooperation between countries — especially during times of crisis.

Many people expected a protectionist backlash after the 2008 crisis, but it never really materialized. This was thanks in no small part to the strength of the multilateral trading system.

In many ways, the WTO has achieved more than its architects expected in 1995 — and far more than the original designers of the GATT could have imagined in 1947.

But of course there are very real challenges — which are also outlined in this publication.

The slow progress of the Doha Round is an obvious background in any such conversation.

This is something that we have to face up to.

But I think we should also recognise that, in recent years, we have delivered some very important negotiated outcomes.

The Bali Package of 2013 was a huge breakthrough. The plan to expand the Information Technology Agreement which was agreed in July this year was also very important.

These agreements had a systemic impact — reinforcing the WTO as a pillar of global economic governance. And they will also have a significant economic and developmental impact. So we should seek to build on them. And of course our ministerial conference in Nairobi is just two months away.

I want us to get into the habit of delivering, making agreements, and pushing things forward. We should get into the rhythm of holding ministerial conferences where real business gets done and meaningful deals are struck.

In exploring the successes and shortcomings of the past 20 years, this book provides lessons about how we can advance our work in the future, and hand over to the next generation an even stronger trading system — one which serves the interests of people all over the world.

I think this will be a big focus of today’s discussion — so I will stop now and let the debate begin. I have no doubt there will be some strong — and thought-provoking — views expressed.

It just remains for me to thank the WTO secretariat staff who contributed their valuable insights and first-hand knowledge to make this book possible.

In particular, I’d like to thank John Hancock and Marc Bacchetta who did a great job coordinating this work.

So thank you all — and thank you for your attention.

I wish you a lively debate.