GENEVA, Switzerland – In a speech on 7 March, on the eve of International Women’s Day, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of preserving and improving multilateralism as a key tool to foster international collaboration and expand women’s participation in international trade.
Dr Merkel was delivering the seventh lecture in the Presidential Lecture Series at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva. She served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, the first female leader to hold this office.
In her lecture titled “Empowering women through multilateral cooperation”, Dr Merkel highlighted the importance of establishing rules and standards to ensure women have equal access to economic opportunities. She underscored that supply chain diversification presents unique opportunities for women, particularly in emerging and developing economies. She called on more women to be engaged in these expanding markets and for countries to draw on a broader talent pool, driving innovation and growth.
The former German Chancellor noted that global institutions like the WTO play a significant role through initiatives such as the Informal Working Group on Women and Trade and various other initiatives that produce empirical evidence of the benefits of multilateralism for women. Additionally, the WTO collaborates with other international bodies, such as the World Bank, the International Development Fund (IDF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to advance policies that enhance women’s participation in the global economy. These partnerships aim to create equitable trade policies that ensure women’s access to finance and opportunities in global markets, she said.
Beyond women’s rights, Dr Merkel emphasized the broader significance of multilateralism in achieving economic stability. Acknowledging the current challenges of multilateral cooperation, she called on the audience to maintain strong convictions about what international cooperation has achieved in recent decades in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction around the world.
Stressing the relevance of the WTO as the organization that accounts for 98 percent of global trade, Dr Merkel stressed the pivotal role the multilateral trading system has played in providing global economic stability, fostering international trade and promoting open and fair markets to the advantage of both industrialized and developing countries. Drawing from the lessons from past global economic crises, she emphasized the role governments and international organizations have played in mitigating financial and health crises and enabling economic resilience.
One of the priority areas for discussion she mentioned was the WTO Appellate Body and the need to restore it as it has an essential role in enforcing trade agreements and maintaining the credibility of the organization. Ensuring there is an Appellate Body that has teeth and is operational will be central to global trade governance in the future, she noted.
The former German Chancellor said the European Union is proof that multilateralism is complicated but with sufficient political will it offers a win-win solution for all. She expressed hope that all the important players on the international trade scene would be able to understand this and not reject the fact that the path of consensus always leaves the doors open for mutual benefits.
In her welcoming remarks, WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala referred to Dr Merkel as a “stalwart supporter” of the multilateral trading system and the WTO. She is someone who was a “central actor in the global arena” over a 16-year tenure that was marked by economic and health crises, she added.
DG Okonjo-Iweala highlighted persistent gender gaps in political and business leadership, within societies and homes, and in organizations such as the WTO. “For all the progress we have made, we still have a long way to go. But Dr Merkel has helped us envision a more equal world. When Olaf Scholz succeeded her as Chancellor in December 2021, a generation of German boys discovered that the country’s top job could also be done by a man,” she said.
DG Okonjo-Iweala also reflected on the “grave challenges” the international economic order is currently confronting. She emphasized that despite all of its shortcomings the system has for 80 years enabled unprecedented prosperity and poverty reduction. “Conflict and climate change are exacting a growing human toll. Progress on economic development and gender equality is stalling. Rising economic uncertainty is diminishing people’s prospects – nowhere more so than in the poorest countries,” she said.
In this context, DG Okonjo-Iweala stressed the importance of the WTO and the need for members to be mindful of the power of cooperation and understanding. She cited an early speech of Dr Merkel to the European Parliament where she said that in order to reach agreements, things must be looked at through other people’s eyes. “We need more of that here,” she said.
The director-general mentioned her recent trip to Washington D.C., where she met with the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer. Despite criticisms of the WTO in a recently released report, the US signalled its intent to remain engaged in the organization, she said. This suggests there is an opportunity to address their concerns through existing WTO mechanisms, reinforcing the importance of continued dialogue and cooperation within the organization, she added.
Dr Merkel’s lecture was followed by a fireside chat moderated by Richard Quest, CNN’s international business correspondent. Held in conjunction with International Women’s Day, the lecture and discussion served as an opportunity to highlight female leadership and women’s empowerment in international economic governance.
A recording of the event can be viewed here.
Presidential lecture series
The lecture series provides a platform for distinguished speakers from all walks of life, ranging from presidents, prime ministers and high-level politicians to business leaders, scientists, authors and philanthropists, to discuss multilateral cooperation and global governance issues, including trade-related matters and sustainable development goals. Several lectures are held annually at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva.
More information on the lecture series is available here.
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