ABU DHABI ¨C Trade ministers from nearly every country in the world gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday for a World Trade Organization meeting that aims to set new global commerce rules, but even its ambitious chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sought to curb expectations.
The almost 30-year-old global watchdog, whose rules underpin 75% of global commerce, tries to strike deals by consensus, but such efforts are becoming more difficult amid signs that the global economy is fragmenting into separate blocs.
¡°Let¡¯s not pretend that any of this will be easy,¡± Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in his opening speech, describing the atmosphere as ¡°tougher¡± than the WTO¡¯s last 2022 meeting, citing wars, tensions and elections and signs that trade growth will undershoot the body¡¯s own estimate.
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