The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, today met with the WTO's Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the margins of the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Trade, which is being held in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on July 16 and 17, 2024.
Minister Ng and Director-General Okonjo-Iweala discussed how Canada can continue to support efforts to strengthen and promote a strong rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. Minister Ng reiterated Canada's strong commitment to working with all WTO members to maintain momentum following the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) earlier this year, including on WTO reform.
The Minister noted that the WTO needs to be responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities and support inclusive and sustainable economic growth for all. They both expressed support for the ongoing discussions among WTO members on strengthening the organization and making further progress on fisheries subsidies and an agreement on investment facilitation for development.
Minister Ng also took this opportunity to highlight the Ottawa Group's valuable role as a convener and incubator of reform ideas among like-minded partners. The group will continue to work together and meet at various levels to generate new ideas and advance shared objectives post-MC13.
