Brazilian in the final round for new WTO Director-General

Roberto Azevêdo, from Brazil, is one of two remaining candidates in the process to select the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), after the second round of consultations with Member-States conducted from April 16 to 24, 2013, at WTO headquarters in Geneva.

The outcome of the round was released on April 26, 2013, by the troika in charge of the selection process that is composed of the Presidents of the WTO General Council (from Pakistan), the Dispute Resolution Body (from Canada), and the Trade Policy Review Body (from Sweden). The other remaining candidate is Herminio Blanco from Mexico.

The final round of consultations will begin this week, from April 29th to May 7th, and the outcome will be announced in May. The winner in the selection process will assume the office of Director-General - currently held by Pascal Lamy, from France - in September, 2013.

“The fact that we were able to get to the final round of the selection process is a sign of how representative our candidacy is,” said Ambassador Azevedo. “We received the support of countries from all geographic regions and with different levels of development.”

Five candidates competed in the second round of consultations. In addition to the two remaining candidates, Mari Pangestu from Indonesia, Taeho Bark from South Korea, and Tim Groser from New Zealand also participated.

The process to select the new Director-General began in December, 2012, with the registration of nine candidates. Four candidates were eliminated in the first round of consultations held April 2-9, 2013.