Business calls on trade ministers to safeguard and reform WTO system at MC14

At a business forum co-hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Organization on the eve of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, business leaders called on ministers to deliver practical outcomes in response to the mounting pressures on the global trading system.

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Opening the event on behalf of ICC, Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO stressed that business is looking for two clear deliverables from MC14: a permanent prohibition on the application of customs duties on digital services and the launch of a structured, time-bound process to reform the WTO system.

Mr Denton warned that the global trading environment is being reshaped by conflict, geopolitical tensions and an increasing proliferation of unilateral policy measures - noting that global trade rules that have largely not kept pace with the realities of today's economy. He added that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz had raised the stakes still further, warning that continued disruption in the Persian Gulf could trigger an industrial shock on a scale not seen in living memory.

Against that backdrop, Mr Denton underscored that MC14 must do more than restate political support for reforming the WTO in general terms. Business needs a credible process with clear milestones, accountability and a defined timetable.

He also underlined the importance of making the WTO's longstanding e-commerce moratorium permanent, noting that digital trade now underpins the functioning of the wider global economy and should not remain subject to recurring uncertainty.

The forum brought together senior representatives from government, business and international institutions to ensure that business priorities are clearly reflected in ministerial discussions at MC14.

In a keynote address at the event, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called out the strong business presence at the Forum and said that it speaks to the importance the private sector places on the rules-based trading system.

"Fragmentation of trade rules will shut out the small and medium sized enterprises that are the backbone of every economy, and raise costs for businesses of all sizes. Further erosion of the rules underpinning open markets could make it harder for trade to serve as a shock absorber in future crises. That is why we have been calling on WTO members to undertake ambitious reforms, to strengthen the multilateral trading system and help it fit better into the needs of a changing global economy." - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization

Cameroon's Minister of Trade underscored the importance of both the country and the wider African region as active participants in the global trading system.

"Africa that draws its strength from its people and represents the second or third largest market in the world … Africa is reaching out so that it may come and invest within the framework of transparent rules laid down by the multilateral trading system." - Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Minister of Trade, Cameroon