Your editorial (“The WTO’s role is more important than ever”, August 4) narrows the field to “two leading candidates” — former ministers from Nigeria and Kenya, respectively. Yet one of the other six candidates, Mexico’s Jesus Seade, negotiated with the US and Canada a major trade agreement (USMCA). The treaty entered into force on July 1 and represents one of the few trade deals achieved over the past decade.
Further, Mr Seade was deputy director-general of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade during the last eighteen months of its existence, and one of the negotiators leading to the foundation of the WTO, as well as WTO deputy director for its first five years.
It is clear that new, agreed upon rules for global trade are essential to jump-start the world economy. Hence, there is no time for on-the-job training. The FT should provide a comparative account of the achievements of each of the eight candidates in the field of international trade negotiations; and this should be the factor that determines who should fill the WTO’s top job, rather than nationality, continent of origin, or any other aspect.
Marko Skreb
Former president of the Central Bank of Croatia
Ricardo Lago
Former EBRD, World Bank and IADB official
Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi
Programme director, London School of Economics
Guillermo de la Dehesa
Honorary chairman of the Centre for Economic Policy Research
Felipe Larraín
Former minister of finance of Chile
Roberto Abusada
President of the Institute of Economics of Peru
Mario Blejer
Board of IRSA and former peresident of the Central Bank of Argentina
Jaime Serra
Former minister of trade of Mexico (negotiator of Nafta)
David Tuesta
Former minister of finance of Peru
