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RESTRICTED WT/GC/M/185 31 August 2020 (20-5924) Page RESTRICTED WT/GC/M/185 31 August 2020 (20-5924) Page: 1/98 General Council 15-17 July 2020 MINUTES OF MEETING HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD AND IN VIRTUAL FORMAT ON 15-17 JULY 2020 Chairperson: H.E. Dr. David Walker (New Zealand) 1 APPOINTMENT OF THE NEXT DIRECTOR-GENERAL – MEETING WITH THE CANDIDATES1 1.1. The Chairman said that it was the first time that the General Council met in person since the outbreak of COVID-19 and he extended a warm welcome to the representatives and colleagues that were present in the room that day as well as to all those that were connected through the virtual platform. It was a real pleasure to see them all. He hoped they were all well and healthy. 1.2. The meeting of the General Council had been convened in accordance with the Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General in WT/L/509, and its purpose was to enable Members to meet formally with the eight candidates that had been nominated for the post of the next Director-General. The nomination period had closed on 8 July and a consolidated list of candidates had been circulated on 9 July. The eight candidates that had been nominated were: Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico), Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt), Ambassador Tudor Ulianovschi (Republic of Moldova), H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea), Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed (Republic of Kenya), Mr. Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom). 1.3. He recalled that, on 1 July and on 10 July, he had sent communications to all Members setting out the modalities for the conduct of the meeting. Those modalities were the same as those applied in the DG appointment processes of Directors-General in 2005 and in 2013, when Members also had had multiple candidates – with some necessary adjustments related to the remote participation of delegations. He highlighted a few important points of those modalities which would apply throughout the two and a half days of the meeting. The scheduled meeting time for each candidate had been indicated in his communication of 10 July. The candidates would appear before the General Council in the order in which their nominations had been received. 1.4. He intended to start all the sessions of the General Council meeting strictly on time. He would therefore request all the representatives attending in person to be seated ten minutes before each meeting was scheduled to start. He would also ask that all delegations that participated remotely to be connected well ahead of the scheduled time. That was an extremely important aspect of the meeting. Members should ensure equal treatment for all candidates, and that the whole meeting ran smoothly. He very much counted on their cooperation in that respect. 1.5. All eight candidates were present in Geneva, and they would make their interventions in person from the Council Room. He was certain he spoke on behalf of all delegations in expressing great appreciation for their efforts and commitment to travel to Geneva to meet with the General Council in person. Each candidate would be invited to make a brief presentation lasting no more than fifteen minutes. That would be followed by a question-and-answer period of no more than one hour and fifteen minutes. During the last five minutes of the question-and-answer period, each candidate would have the opportunity to make a concluding statement if she or he so wished. 1 The Airgram convening this meeting can be found in document WTO/AIR/GC/30. WT/GC/M/185 - 2 - 1.6. The names of speakers for each question-and-answer period would be drawn at random from a box at the podium containing the names of all delegations who had indicated their wish to put a question to the candidate concerned. Eight boxes, one for each candidate, had been made available on 14 July to Members wishing to put questions to one or more candidates. Members had had the possibility to come physically to the WTO to include their names in the boxes or to indicate it by email if they so wished – and their requests had been duly recorded by the Secretariat. In order to make the fairest possible use of the time available, each Member whose name was drawn from the box would be allowed to ask one question only, with no follow-up questions allowed. That would be followed by a response from the candidate followed by the drawing of the next speaker. 1.7. For those delegations participating remotely, or wishing to ask the question remotely, if their name was drawn and if their delegation was called, they should click on the "Raise Hand" green button on the top of their screen. Once the Secretariat would see that, a message would pop up on their screen – they should click on "Video". After a couple of seconds, they would be streamed and then they could ask their question. Whether participating in person or remotely, questions should last no more than one minute. Other than questions, there should be no statements from delegations. He intended to exercise strict discipline with respect to time management and he would interrupt speakers after one minute. He would also urge Members to assist the process by not asking questions that could have already been asked. He counted on their cooperation so that the exercise could proceed smoothly. 1.8. If the number of speakers was exhausted before the one-hour and fifteen minutes time limit, he would ask if any additional delegations wished to put questions, giving priority to those who had not previously spoken. If, at the end of the time limit for the question-and-answer session, there were unfulfilled requests to put questions, he would indicate to each candidate the number of Members remaining on the list of potential speakers. He would briefly recall those modalities with each candidate with exactly the same introductory words. Each candidate would have the opportunity to meet with the Press in the WTO building immediately following her or his meeting with Members in the General Council. The press conference would be broadcasted live on the WTO website. 1.9. Following the Chairman's introductory remarks, Members in the General Council met with the candidates based in in the order in which their nominations had been received: 15 July 11:15 – 12:45 Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico) 15:00 – 16:30 Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) 16:30 – 18:00 Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt) 16 July 11:00 – 12:30 Ambassador Tudor Ulianovschi (Republic of Moldova) 15:00 – 16:30 H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea) 16:30 – 18:00 Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed (Republic of Kenya) 17 July 10:00 – 11:30 Mr. Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) 11:30 – 13:00 Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom) 1.10. The presentations made by each candidate2, as well as the questions and answers at each session, are recorded in Annexes 1 to 8 of this document. 1.11. In concluding the meeting on 17 July, the Chairman thanked all delegations for their participation in the meeting of the General Council to meet the candidates for the post of WTO Director-General. He was very grateful for their constructive cooperation which had allowed the meeting to run smoothly throughout the two and a half days. As he had noted at the end of each session, there had been several delegations who had wished to ask questions to the candidates and that had not had a chance to do so because their name had not been drawn. Each box had contained 2 The candidates' presentations were subsequently issued in documents JOB/GC/233, JOB/GC/234, JOB/GC/235, JOB/GC/236, JOB/GC/237, JOB/GC/238, JOB/GC/239 and JOB/GC/240. WT/GC/M/185 - 3 - more than 50 names, reflecting the interest that Members placed in the exercise and it had been obviously not possible to cover all the questions in the allocated 75 minutes for each Q&A session. 1.12. The system, which had been based on past practice, had been designed to make the best and fairest possible use of the limited time for each session with the candidates. Delegations could wish to approach the candidates directly or through their respective Missions in those two months of Phase Two of the process which would last until 7 September. That was precisely the objective of Phase Two as had been foreseen in the Procedures. That Phase was the opportunity for the candidates to "make themselves known to Members and to engage in discussions on pertinent issues facing the organization". He encouraged all Members to make good use of that Phase and to continue to engage with the candidates after that General Council meeting. _______________ WT/GC/M/185 - 4 - ANNEX 1 Meeting with Mr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico) 1. Presentation by the Candidate1 Mr Chairman, I would like to thank you and all the delegations for this opportunity to share my vision and commitment with the Word Trade Organization and present the reasons for my candidature for the position of WTO Director-General. With your permission, I shall use the Organization's three official languages. Presenting my candidature to you is not only a huge honour, but also an especially emotional moment for me. I had the privilege of participating extensively in the complex and ambitious creation of the WTO, − as a negotiator for my country; − as a member of the successful facilitating team that, with Peter Sutherland, managed to salvage negotiations that were at a complete standstill; and finally − as Deputy Director-General of the fledgling WTO.
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