The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday, visited the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment.
During the visit, her second visit to the ministry after she became WTO DG, she discussed the importance of trade relationships in Nigeria and Africa with a focus on fisheries subsidy and local vaccine production in the country.
According to her, “fisheries subsidy was key to Nigeria. To ensure improved output, she said a revised draft agreement for new global rules aims to curb harmful fishing subsidies and curtail post-harvest losses.”
On vaccine production, the W.T.O boss said she was seeking more support from local manufacturers to guard against imports of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.
These issues were part of a broad discussion on how to improve trade and export while leveraging the opportunities the African continental free trade agreement offers.
Beyond improving trade ties in Nigeria and Africa, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the WTO was also looking at soaring inflation rates.
In this regard, she said the WTO was taking measures to ensure that all restrictions on food flow to member countries were addressed.
Her visit came barely a month after the WTO’s Council of Ministers meeting which was held in Geneva between June 12 and 17 with a major focus on improving trade, health, food security, and economic reforms which aim at building economic resilience globally.
She was received by the minister of State for Industries Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum.
The minister promised to escalate the agreement reached at the council of ministers meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The agreements reached included one for the establishment of fisheries subsidy which is expected to check unregulated fishing practices in Nigerian waters, the development of fisheries development programmes and the establishment of technical services in fisheries data collection. (Channels TV)
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
