WTO chief: Trade key to restore global growth

Despite geopolitical tensions and uncertainties, the world needs trade to restore growth, the head of the World Trade Organization told audiences at the World Economic Forum, which concluded on Friday in Davos, Switzerland.

Attending a panel on "The Global Economic Outlook", Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the WTO, admitted that trade was considerably down last year, but she remained optimistic about 2024, forecasting a 3.3-percent growth of global trade value.

Okonjo-Iweala agreed with other panelists that the world is "moving towards normalization", but at the same time, conditions are "not normal", and she pointed to disruptions at two major canals: The Red Sea crisis is impacting the Suez Canal, while climate change-induced drought is affecting the Panama Canal.

"There are so many uncertainties and, of course, all the elections that we see around the world and what that may bring," she said.

But despite these challenges, Okonjo-Iweala identifies new forms of trade as opportunities for growth.

"Trade has been a force for resilience, and there are some bright spots in trade that we need to be conscious of," she said, highlighting the 8-percent annual growth in digital services trade and the tripling of the value of green trade, encompassing clean energy, green products, and services since 2000.

"Without a free flow of trade, I don't think we can recover," she said in another session exploring the role of trade and investment as a driver of economic growth.

Stressing a two-way relationship between growth and trade, she said the WTO is negotiating an investment facilitation agreement with 110 countries, to help developing countries "sweep away barriers" for investment to flow in.

Xinhua contributed to the story.