Ambassador Matthew Wilson speaking to some of the Model WTO participants after his keynote address recently. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade)
Barbados’ Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, World Trade Organization (WTO) and other International Organizations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, says multilateralism and development assistance are at risk and change must come for WTO members to benefit.
Mr. Wilson was delivering the keynote address at the closing ceremony of the 28th Edition of Model-WTO, held in St. Gallen and Geneva, Switzerland.
Referring to the current global trade tensions, the Ambassador said: “Multilateralism as we know it is at risk. Development assistance as we know it is at risk. We are seeing the return of a state security doctrine and retreat of a human security doctrine, and the WTO will have to have focused reform if it is to deliver for all of its members moving forward.”
Model-WTO is the biggest simulation of the World Trade Organization’s negotiations in the world. Its international conference provides a unique opportunity for future decision makers to experience first-hand the technicalities of the multilateral trading system. Every year, since 1997, students from around the world and different educational backgrounds have been invited to Switzerland to debate and exchange on the most relevant topics related to International Trade.
This year’s 28th edition focused on the priorities of small and vulnerable economies. As part of the programme, students benefited from months-long training and were assigned to represent a number of different countries in negotiation simulations. Barbados was one of the countries chosen.
The team representing Barbados visited the Permanent Mission of Barbados, where they had focused discussions with the staff on Barbados’ priorities, including climate change, trade, digital transformation and the Bridgetown Initiative.
Mr. Wilson called on Model-WTO participants to be ‘revolutionaries’, “innovative and transformative in their approach”, and to question existing ways of doing things while being careful enough to protect what works, and to put people before policies.
The Ambassador, who welcomed the Model-WTO focus on small vulnerable economies (SVEs) and small island states, stated: “By choosing to represent the views of SVEs, you have put yourself in the shoes of some of the most vulnerable economies in the world – vulnerable to the climate crisis, to the debt crisis, to supply chain volatility and to frequent economic shocks.
The Model WTO students representing ‘Barbados’ visited the Permanent Mission, where they had discussions with the staff on Barbados’ priorities, including climate change, trade, digital transformation and the Bridgetown Initiative. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade)
“You have chosen to represent countries with small administrations and even smaller diplomatic embassies here in Geneva. But you have chosen to represent the views of countries for whom multilateralism, the UN system and the WTO mean more than just attending meetings. It means agency, a seat at the table and a voice in the discussions.”
Mr. Wilson also highlighted that for small countries like Barbados, multilateralism is not an afterthought: “it is the ‘central processing unit’ of our economic, political and social engagement”.
Touching on the art of diplomacy, he reminded the participants that the culture of diplomacy and the human dimension of trade negotiations matter.
He pointed out that persons are required “to have empathy, to listen, to appreciate different cultures, races, languages, and genders”, as well as see those areas “not as barriers to closing deals but as opportunities” to widen them.
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/ambassador-wilson-closes-out-28th-edition-of-model-wto/
Author: Sheena Forde-Craigg
