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STORY: WTO / SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING
TRT: 05:58
SOURCE: WTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23-24 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
23 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, WTO headquarters
2. Various shots, WTO entrance, delegates
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“This is a momentous occasion, very heartwarming. An event during which several WTO members will deposit their instruments of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.”
4. Wide shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“Each acceptance is a precious contribution, getting the Agreement closer to entering into force, which is important for our oceans, for people, and for the WTO.”
6. Wide shot, Korean delegation
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“We are almost halfway halfway there.”
8. Wide shot, WTO Director-General, members
9. Wide shot, WTO senior officials’ family photo
24 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10. Med shot, Ambassador of Botswana and Chair of the WTO General Council’s arrival
11. Med shot WTO Director-General's arrival
12. Various shots, meetings, speakers, podium, delegates
13. Various shots, officials at podium, journalists, press conference
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme, Botswana ambassador / Chair, General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO):
"This has been a historic first in the WTO, that has brought together at Geneva headquarters 100 senior government officials and nearly 1000 delegates. The senior officials meeting, or SOM, have some has provided an opportunity for capital-base officials to take decisions, take note of the progress of work in Geneva, provide political guidance and support and endorse pathways for discussion in the run up to MC13 (13th Ministerial Conference).”
15. Med shot, speakers at podium
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“As I told the senior officials at the meeting, we are living in very uncertain times. And the world is looking at WTO and other multilateral institutions to show that we can contribute to solutions. I'm bringing a bit of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.”
17. Wide shot, press conference
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO):
“It was clear to me from the discussions that negotiators in Geneva have the political mandate now to try to achieve breakthroughs on issues from Dispute Settlement reform, reform of the Dispute Settlement System, agriculture and food security, the E-commerce work program, and of course the second wave of the fisheries subsidies negotiations as well as on development issues, among others. Now, this is not to say that the discussions on these issues on any of these in the weeks or months ahead will be easy. But I do come out of this with a more positive feeling about our chances.”
19. Various shots, speakers at podium, attendants, journalists
A two-day meeting of senior trade officials concluded at the World Trade Organization (WTO) today (24 Oct) with encouraging signs that negotiators in Geneva will have the political backing to achieve outcomes at their upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) early next year.
The chairs of the meeting — WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the General Council Chair, Ambassador Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme of Botswana — welcomed the positive engagement and constructive dialogue amongst the senior officials on the array of issues on the MC13 agenda as well as on emerging trade-related issues.
Summing up the discussions in her concluding remarks to the senior officials, the Director-General said she had a “very strong positive impression” regarding the exchanges that took place over the past two days.
