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STORY: GENEVA / WTO AZEVEDO GUTERRES
TRT: 3:17
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 MAY, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10 MAY, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, arrival of delegation at World Trade Organization (WTO).
2. Various shots, Guterres arriving to conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Azevedo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“The fact is that having shared rules and commitments on global trade is vital for us all. They provide stability and predictability. They prevent a race to the bottom, where everybody ends up worse off. And they deliver tremendous economic benefits.”
4. Wide shot, delegates in conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Azevedo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“The world faces many challenges, new and old ones: economic tensions, poverty, climate change, conflict, migration, antimicrobial resistance, the list goes on. In my view, meeting each of these challenges demands more cooperation, not less. Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals requires more cooperation, not less.”
6. Wide shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Azevedo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“The issues that we are wrestling with in our day-to-day work here in the WTO – trade tensions, the effects of rapid economic change, the desire for reform and renewal – all these are a manifestation of a much bigger picture. Global economic and political forces are interacting in a manner that we have not often seen before, and which is not always predictable.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“In the face of growing discontent with globalization, trade tensions have escalated over the past year to threaten growth in international trade and the very foundation of the rules-based multilateral trading system. These trade tensions are a major set-back for the revitalization of the global partnership required for sustainable development. It is worth highlighting that when trade tensions rise, there are no winners, only losers, especially among developing countries.”
10. Wide shot, dais
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Anti-globalization sentiments among those who feel left behind have been spreading rapidly. They undermine trust between peoples and their political establishments and are eroding social support for more open cooperative approaches in many countries, rich and poor alike.”
12. Close up, delegation nameplates.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Let us work together to honour the commitment to achieve a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable international trading system.”
14. Wide shot, dais
15. Various shots, delegates
16. Close up, writing
17. Med shot, technical room
18. Wide shot, delegates applauding
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said global benefits linked to trade have been an integral part in the success stories of many countries, but this progress risks unravelling unless the international trading system is revitalized and becomes more inclusive.
Addressing a special session of the World Trade Organization (WTO) today (10 May) amid ongoing concerns over a tariff dispute between the world’s largest economies, the US and China, Guterres underlined the need to respect the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s call for “a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system.”
He warned that in the face of “growing discontent with globalization, trade tensions have escalated over the past year to threaten growth in international trade and the very foundation of the rules-based multilateral trading system.” These trade tensions represent “a major set-back for the revitalization of the global partnership for sustainable development.” Guterres said, before insisting that trade tensions created “no winners, only losers, especially among developing countries.”
One billion people have been lifted out of poverty thanks to increased global trade, he told the Geneva-based forum, but significant obstacles have emerged in harnessing the positive force of connected commerce, new technologies and economic integration, meaning that many countries and people have been left behind.
The UN chief said the least developed countries in the world are off track to meet the SDG target of doubling their share of world trade by 2020, adding that inequality was also growing in many societies.
More than 700 million people, or 10 percent of the world’s population, still live in extreme poverty, Guterres told WTO Member States, including many in middle-income countries that have managed to benefit from global trade.
The Secretary-General said, “Anti-globalization sentiments among those who feel left behind have been spreading rapidly. They undermine trust between peoples and their political establishments and are eroding social support for more open cooperative approaches in many countries, rich and poor alike.”
Ahead of the Secretary-General’s speech, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo issued a rallying call for multilateralism, having earlier noted downward pressures on trade growth and the ongoing debate about reform of the organization.
SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Azevedo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“The world faces many challenges, new and old ones: economic tensions, poverty, climate change, conflict, migration, antimicrobial resistance, the list goes on. In my view, meeting each of these challenges demands more cooperation, not less. Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals requires more cooperation, not less.”
Insisting that the WTO was working hard to resolve disputes and urgently reduce tensions, Azevedo explained that the current uncertainty had sparked a debate about how global trade might be more inclusive. He said, ultimately, a resolution to the tensions that we are seeing today would only come about with political will, adding that some see reforming the WTO as an essential step in that journey. He noted that having shared rules and commitments in global trade is vital for all as they provide stability, predictability and deliver tremendous economic benefits.
Azevedo added, “The issues that we are wrestling with in our day-to-day work here in the WTO – trade tensions, the effects of rapid economic change, the desire for reform and renewal – all these are a manifestation of a much bigger picture. Global economic and political forces are interacting in a manner that we have not often seen before, and which is not always predictable.”
