WTO director wants Brazil to increase global food supply

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will arrive in Brasilia this weekend for her first visit to Latin America. And one of the things she wants to know is to what extent Brazil can help prevent a looming global food crisis.

If Brazil exports more food, it could help slow the spiral of high world prices, Ngozo said in an interview with Valor. The message she should hear from the Brazilian government is that Brazil is part of the solution and has a surplus of grains and proteins with which to supply the world.

The WTO Director-General makes no secret of her concern about the economic impact of the double shock of the pandemic and now the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West on Russia on the economy and world trade.

The most immediate impact of the sanctions has been a sharp increase in the prices of food, energy, fertilizers, and some key minerals for which Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers on the international market. The outlook is so uncertain that the WTO forecast for trade in goods this year is between 0.5% and 5.5%.

It does not rule out the risk of even greater geopolitical tensions, nationalism and populism, and protectionism. However, she makes a strong case for the multilateral trading system to strengthen the resilience of economies, including in the face of growing threats from climate change.

Ngozi will arrive in Brasilia on Saturday evening. On Sunday, she will attend a barbecue. She says her children in the U.S. go to a Brazilian barbecue restaurant and find the meat “wonderful.” On Monday, she will meet with President Jair Bolsonaro, give a speech in Itamaraty and meet with ministers.

On Tuesday, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) will organize the Business Dialogue event with the WTO Director-General in São Paulo, where they will present her with a document containing the sector’s priorities, which include fighting subsidies to agriculture and industry.

Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala took the helm of the WTO in March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to hold the post of director-general of this important global governance institution. She previously served as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2006.

She has a 25-year career at the World Bank, where she rose to the No. 2 position. She holds a degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

At the end of the interview, Ngozi commented on the Nigerian national soccer team. She said the team has many good players, but they need to work together more. Nigeria did not qualify for this year’s Fifa World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in November and December.

With information from Valor