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World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Friday that India should be a leader of the reform process at the WTO. She said that India's economy is growing at a healthy pace and it is a leader in areas like technology.

 

Ngozi said that there is a need to look at areas in the WTO which are not working and discuss ways to correct that. "Here India can be a leader, India should be a leader of the reform process at the WTO...we must correct all wrongs," Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said here at CII's partnership Summit 2025.

 

Referring to high tariffs imposed by the US, she said the member nations should pay attention to the concerns flagged by America. India too has flagged concerns on issues like public stockholding, she said, adding that repeating past grievances will not help in building a strong global trading system. She appealed to all the members of the WTO to work together to strengthen the global trading system.

 

The US has raised concerns over the way the WTO arms are functioning and has called for reforms in the WTO, including in its dispute redressal mechanism.

 

“While a country may need bilateral trade agreements to push their growth, but you also need a multilateral system to move forward. That is why the WTO is important," she said, adding that the world is witnessing huge disruptions in global trade at present.

 

"My message to you is that despite that, the global trading system remains resilient," Ngozi said, adding that 72 per cent of world trade is still happening under WTO rules, which proves stability and predictability.

 

The WTO chief said there is a need to work together on reforms, "and that work needs a great deal of reforms of the multilateral trading system and the WTO". “The unilateral tariff rise by the US is dramatic, but we must listen to what they say about tariff barriers, non-tariff issues, lack of transparency in the system and unfair trading practices by certain countries,” she said.

 

Also read: US rejects India’s request for WTO consultation on copper tariff