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Ph:DR: HE Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates – President of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (CM13)
At a meeting of the WTO General Council held from 13 to 15 December, Members received briefings from the Chairman of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13), HE Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Commerce UAE, on preparations for MC13, which will take place in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. Members also approved a budget increase for the WTO Secretariat for the 2024-2025 biennium after 12 years of growth zero nominal.
Minister Al Zeyoudi told Members that there were only ten weeks left before the start of MC13, and they needed to intensify their work to bridge remaining gaps in key areas where the international community needed to act.
He spoke of the two “mini-ministerial meetings” that he chaired on November 28 and the December 11and said that most Ministers had stuck to their well-known positions but it was time for Members to move up a gear if they truly wanted to achieve an outcome that served the global community.
Minister Al Zeyoudi said he was discussing the way forward with the Chair of the General Council, Ambassador Athaliah Molokomme (Botswana), and with the Director-General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. He looked forward to working with all participants and welcoming them to Abu Dhabi.
The Director-General reiterated her appeal to Members at the Trade Negotiations Committee meeting of the December 12 to redouble our efforts to close the gaps as much as possible in Geneva ahead of MC13.
CM13 will be held in Abu Dhabi from February 26 to 29, 2024.
Budget increase approved
Members agreed to increase the WTO budget by 3.6% — from CHF 197.2 million to CHF 204.9 million — for 2024 and 2025, taking into account rising inflation and obligations contractual. This includes an increase of CHF 0.73 million for the International Trade Center, a multilateral body with a common mandate with the WTO and the UN. This is the first increase in the WTO’s operational budget in 12 years.
The Chair of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration, Ambassador Bettina Waldmann (Germany), thanked Members for helping to find common ground on the budget.
The Director-General also thanked Members: the Secretariat would be “better able to [les] serve” and the agreement showed that Members could rally for the Organization and achieve results in Geneva.
