WTO Director General meets PH Government Officials

Philippine President H.E. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes WTO Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during a courtesy call on the President at the Malacañang Palace on 4 December 2024. (Photo courtesy of WTO delegation)

MANILA 04 December 2024 - World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala conducted a two-day visit to the Philippines on 03-04 December 2024 to meet with Philippine government officials and business leaders.

The visit was highlighted by her courtesy call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace on 04 December 2024. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala thanked the President for the Philippines’ acceptance early this year of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement which aims to address harmful fisheries subsidies and promote ocean sustainability.

The WTO delegation, which was composed of Mr. Tomochicka Uyama, WTO Senior Adviser, and Ms Nicole Naa-Adoley Mensa, Special Assistant and Advisor for Women in Trade to the Director General, was also accompanied by Philippine Representative to the WTO in Geneva, Ambassador Manuel A. J. Teehankee.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala congratulated the President for the economic figures of the Philippine economy, which according to her were quite impressive. “The Philippines is doing reasonably well under the circumstances,” she says.

A dinner was hosted by DTI Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque in her honor at the Edsa Shangri-la Manila on 03 December 2024. The dinner was also attended by notable women entrepreneurs of the country.

On 04 December 2024, she delivered a lecture at the Asian Development Bank on trade as an engine for sustainable and inclusive growth and how multilateral development banks can contribute to the process. This was followed by a luncheon hosted by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. for the visiting delegation at the Goldenberg Mansion, Malacañang Palace. The luncheon was also attended by DTI Secretary and Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, Secretary Frederick Go, among other government officials.

Aligned with the second pillar of Philippine foreign policy, i.e. the promotion and attainment of economic security, the WTO Director General’s engagement with the Philippine Government officials presented an opportunity for the leaders to articulate the country’s development priorities with respect to the WTO’s central role in overseeing the multilateral trading system across its more than 160 member-countries. END