5/4/2021
(Adds details, comment on significance of Chinese appointment,)
GENEVA, May 4 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization has
again chosen trade experts from China and the United States as
deputies for its director-general, maintaining a delicate
geopolitical balancing act which also keeps two fractious powers
close at hand.
Two out of the four chosen are women, a first for the global
trade watchdog. Their four predecessors, all men, stepped down
on March 31.
Replacing their compatriots are Angela Ellard, an American
lawyer and trade expert who has worked at the U.S. Congress, and
Zhang Xiangchen, currently vice trade minister and its former
World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Tuesday named two women to the WTO’s four deputy leader jobs for the first time in its history.
The new director-general herself the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO appointed Angela Ellard of the United States and Costa Rica’s Anabel Gonzalez, along with Jean-Marie Paugam of France and China’s Zhang Xiangchen.
The WTO has counted one woman deputy director general previously, but Okonjo-Iweala stressed that this was “the first time in the history of our organization that half of the DDGs are women.”
“This underscores my commitment to strengthening our organization with talented leaders whilst at the same time achieving gender balance in senior positions,” said the WTO chief, who took office on March 1.
In first, WTO names women to half of deputy chief posts jamaicaobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamaicaobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Tuesday named two women to the WTO’s four deputy leader jobs for the first time in its history.
The new director-general herself the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO appointed of the United States and Costa Rica’s Anabel Gonzalez, along with Jean-Marie Paugam of France and China’s Zhang Xiangchen.
The WTO has counted one woman deputy director-general previously, but Okonjo-Iweala stressed that this was “the first time in the history of our organisation that half of the DDGs are women.”
“This underscores my commitment to strengthening our organisation with talented leaders whilst at the same time achieving gender balance in senior positions,” said the WTO chief, who took office on March 1.