GENEVA – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) Board of Directors Chair Susan Schwab released the following statement following meetings with several NFTC Board Members and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and other officials during the Geneva-based group’s annual Public Forum:
“The conversations in Geneva this week were reminders both of the serious geopolitical challenges we face and the role that trade policy can play in meeting them.
“NFTC is grateful for Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership at a critical time for the organization.
“Earlier this year, at the Ministerial, her leadership was essential in brokering consensus on key deliverables including the customs duty moratorium on digital trade and protecting fish stocks from harmful subsidies.
“This week at the Public Forum, the WTO demonstrated its central role in fostering conversations around critical business community priorities including strengthening supply chains, ensuring open markets, improving the e-commerce ecosystem, creating opportunities for small- and medium-sized business, and enabling a more inclusive global economy.
“We look forward to contributing to the conversation Dr. Okonjo-Iweala initiated at the Public Forum about new approaches to creating opportunities for greater engagement with the business community.”
During the Public Forum, Ambassador Schwab led an NFTC panel discussion on leaning into trade in the face of geopolitical challenges. NFTC Vice President Tiffany Smith spoke at an OECD-led panel on shedding new light on the evolving regulatory framework for digital services trade. Jamaica Gayle led a panel on behalf of the NFTC Foundation’s Global Innovation Forum on how digital transformations empower small businesses’ resilience in the Asia-Pacific.
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About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade and tax policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses.
