As politician and diplomat, I am suited for WTO position – Kyerematen

Mr. Alan Kyerematen, the African Union’s (AU) preferred candidate for the position of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) says he is well suited for the position.

Mr. Kyerematen who spoke in an exclusive interview with ghanabusinessnews.com at the end of the Second Africa Trade Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia September 25, 2012, says he is qualified to head the WTO because he is a politician, has worked as a diplomat and in the private sector and has the skills to steer the WTO.

“In all modesty, I happen to combine all these characteristics and it’s just by God’s grace. I have been a politician, I have been not just a senior Cabinet Minister, I have gone as far as running for President, I have been Ambassador to the United States, And I have also been someone who has had a distinguished career in the private sector,” he says.

“It’s an honour and privilege to have been endorsed by the AU as its candidate for this position. This will symbolize the entry of Africa into the competitive global market,” he says.

He tells ghanabusinessnews.com, “This is a job that requires an individual with different skills, expertise, disposition and orientation. First you need a politician because you are dealing with member states and the sensitivities of member states in terms of political interest. It’s very important.”

He adds, “But at the same time you also need a diplomat, because while you try to navigate your way through the various political interests of the member states, you need the diplomatic skill to make sure that you maintain consensus and the balance of interest.”

Mr. Kyerematen who has served as Minister of Trade in Ghana and was Ghana’s Ambassador to the US is currently the head of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He was nominated for the WTO job by the AU at a meeting in Addis Ababa in July 2012.

Frenchman Pascal Lamy’s tenure as Director-General of the WTO will end next year and there will be need for a replacement.

Mr. Kyerematen described the WTO as one of the unique global institutions which has members from different regions and with different levels of economic development, making leading it a sensitive balancing act, “that’s why you need a diplomat,” he says.

On its website, under ‘Who we are’, the WTO says “there are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.”

Mr. Kyerematen believes that anyone who must lead the WTO must have experience working in the development area, “Particularly working in the private sector,” he says.

Commenting on the Doha Rounds, he says, the Doha Talks have stalled because developing countries are saying that they have not been able to harvest the development dividends that were supposed to accrue to them.

“So obviously, if that is the main agenda left to be realised,  then there is no better symbol of the desire of the entire membership of the WTO to focus on the development agenda than to put somebody from the developing region at the centre,” he says.

Asked if he doesn’t think his election as head of the WTO would be seen by the developed world as a threat looking at the fact that the developed economies are yet to fully recover from the ripples of the economic crisis of 2008 and now there is the Eurozone crisis, because he might be seen to be biased towards the developing region, he says as a CEO of a member-driven organisation, the Drirector-General is there to represent the collective and individual interests of member states.

“As I am passionate that Africa is appropriately positioned within the global trade landscape, I am also keenly aware of the importance of not seeking the interest of developing countries to the disadvantage of other members because the important thing is to maintain a balance of interest and creating a level playing field,” he says, adding that “it is not a zero sum game, that if Africa benefits then Europe or the United States loses.”

“On the contrary, the fact that we can bring together developing countries, and support them to benefit from the WTO creates a stronger WTO from which other developed countries will benefit,” he adds.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, back from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia