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2/28/24, 9:48 AM Global trade unlikely to hit 3.3% growth forecast as geopolitical tension rises, WTO says
On October 5, the WTO forecast a 3.3 per cent growth in global trade for 2024 – a strong
improvement from last year's 0.8 per cent – but the projection was made before the Israel-Gaza
war that began two days later.

Attacks by Houthi rebels on ships passing through the Red Sea are also disrupting global trade,
with many ships taking a longer route along the southern tip of Africa to deliver goods to different
countries around the globe.

Ms Okonjo-Iweala said geopolitical tension had worsened with the spread of conflict, creating
problems for the growth of global trade.

She said the multilateral trading system was “under attack” and “misconstrued and undermined”
in several parts of the world” amid US-China tensions and a consequent rise in protectionist
policies.

Despite the challenges, "the multilateral trading system has shown a lot of resilience and it's
delivering," Ms Okonjo-Iweala said during a media briefing on the sidelines of the conference.

"Under the multilateral trading system with the WTO underpinning, it is still delivering 75 per cent
of world trade, still on WTO terms. We just saw two new members, Comoros and Timor Leste, join
the organisation and we have 22 more in the queue."

Comoros and the South-East Asian nation of Timor Leste formally joined the WTO on Monday,
taking its total membership to 166.

Ms Okonjo-Iweala underlined the importance of co-operation in
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WTO: Lebanon faces $2.5bn in trade despite rising protectionist policies.
damages as Israeli attacks "If we don't have it, it will be very difficult for parts of the world to
degrade farmland, says ministe adjust, if we fragment it, it will be very costly to the world, both

WTO's top-level meeting in Abu developed and developing countries," she said. "We need to avoid
Dhabi seeks reform amid divisions fragmentation and we need to focus on co-operation on trade."

"Let's not take the system for granted. Let's not be complacent, we
really have to work to keep it going."

"If we don't have it, I think that goods and livelihoods will be more difficult and more costly. As
you have seen, it would be much more difficult to achieve some of the global objectives we have
on climate change or managing pandemics and so on."

She said there was a need to repair the multilateral trading system and reform it, however, to
"make it fit for purpose, which is what we are doing".
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Meanwhile, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade said the WTO remains a
“powerful force” against protectionism and discrimination and is an important driver for a
multilateral rules-based trading system.

"We must show the world that the WTO is “alive and well” and can deliver results that matter to
people, the conference must show that the multilateral trading system can and will contribute to
development," he said.

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