|
Supachai Panitchpakdi, former Thai Commerce Minister, took office as the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on September 1, 2002.
WTO spokesperson said that as September 1 is Sunday, September 2 will be the first working day for Supachai. He will serve as the Director-General of the WTO for three years till August 31, 2005.
The WTO official said that the transition arrangements are well in hand and Supachai has been receiving all the papers of theorganization for several months. And the two Director-Generals arein regular contact, therefore, the WTO secretariat will not arrange a "hand-over" ceremony for them.
Supachai will have his first press conference as head of the WTO on Monday at the headquarters of the organization in Geneva.
Supachai is the first Asian and the first national of a developing country to head one of the world's three major international organizations -- the WTO, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Analysts here hold that enormous challenges are awaiting the new WTO head. His main task will be to steer the new round of trade negotiations reached at Doha, Qatar in November last year towards a successful conclusion. The negotiations have to be concluded no later than January 1, 2005.
Mike Moore, who leaves his office on August 31, gave a review of his tenure in his farewell message to the WTO staff this weekend.
He gave himself an F mark for Seattle (the third ministerial meeting), an A-minus for Doha (the fourth ministerial meeting) and C-plus for internal reform. He gave the team a B-plus for the worksince the transition to the next administration.
He extended his sincere wish for a successful new round negotiations and urged the WTO staff to do all they can to assist his successor Supachai and his team.
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2002)
|
