Interview with WTO Candidate Alan Kyerematen

Summary

The CGD Podcast: Interview with WTO Candidate Alan Kyerematen

Date: March 12, 2013
Host: Lawrence MacDonald (Center for Global Development)
Guest: Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade, Ghana

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Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Alan Kyerematen, then Ghana’s Minister of Trade and a candidate for Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The conversation delves into Kyerematen's vision for the WTO, his assessment of the organization’s challenges, and his unique qualifications for the role. Key themes include the importance of strategic leadership, consensus-building among member states, and the need for the WTO to address both traditional and emerging trade issues. Special attention is given to the needs of developing countries and the future direction of the multilateral trading system.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance and Current Challenges of the WTO

• WTO’s significance: Kyerematen describes the WTO as a "very important organization, global asset, which has contributed significantly to the expansion of the global economy" and calls it a "firewall against protectionism," emphasizing its role in global economic recovery.
  • "It's a firewall against protectionism, is probably the most powerful instrument for global economic recovery." (B, 01:05)
• Need for new leadership: He asserts that the WTO faces significant challenges and is in need of "new energy" and a leader with "strategic vision."
  • "The organization needs new energy and part of that is to have a new leader who has the strategic vision to lead the organization into the future." (B, 01:35)

2. Kyerematen’s Unique Qualifications

• Technical, managerial, and political experience: He presents his background as a blend of technical expertise (law, economics, policy analysis), management (both public and private sector experience), and political acumen (ministerial and ambassadorial roles, as well as elective office experience).
  • "The combination of technical skills that you require to support the analytical work of the WTO is exactly the kind of technical skills that I have." (B, 02:48)
  • "You also need to have had elective office which then makes you the person who can provide that political guidance." (B, 03:46)

3. The “New Strategic Framework” for Consensus-Building

• Three pillars: Kyerematen proposes a "new strategic framework" for consensus in the WTO, structured around three pillars:
  • Pillar 1: Specific outcomes for Bali – Focus on concrete, realistic agreements at the upcoming Bali ministerial, such as trade facilitation, where members already converge.
    • "The first is to secure very specific concrete outcomes, but realistic outcomes for Bali, which must be based on very specific issues around which currently members have a convergence." (B, 05:57)
  • Pillar 2: Post-Bali strategic roadmap – Develop a clear plan and timeline for concluding the Doha Development Round, focusing on areas of consensus.
    • "The second pillar is defining a post Bali agenda which would include a strategic roadmap to conclude the round." (B, 06:54)
    • "We cannot have this going on in perpetuity." (B, 07:52)
  • Pillar 3: Future direction of the multilateral trading system – Address global changes affecting trade (e.g., value chains, emerging economies, new global dynamics).
    • "There are changes in global dynamics which impact trade... these have to be analyzed and fed into this whole dialogue." (B, 10:10)

4. The Future Agenda: Emerging and Cross-Cutting Issues

• Climate and carbon pricing: The potential introduction of carbon pricing and its trade impacts (e.g., countervailing tariffs) is acknowledged as an important future issue for the WTO.
  • "The whole issue of climate change and how it impacts on development is the subject of major dialogue... it is the connectivity with trade that we are interested in." (B, 13:10)
  • Kyerematen stresses that considering new issues like carbon trading should not signal abandoning core issues like agriculture.
• Other new issues: Currency exchange, the rise of new global powers, energy-trade linkages, and the domestic politics influencing trade policy are noted as emerging priorities for multilateral negotiations.
  • "There are issues relating to currency exchange and how it impacts on trade. There are issues relating to the emergence of new global powers... energy and development... domestic constituencies." (B, 14:52)

5. The Role of the WTO for Small and Developing Countries

• Special and Differential Treatment (SDT): Kyerematen affirms SDT’s role in leveling the playing field but argues it is insufficient on its own.
  • "The provisions that relate to special and differential treatment... were meant to create a level playing field and also give the opportunity of weaker developing countries to participate in global trade." (B, 18:02)
• Empowering firms: He champions support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries to link up with global value chains, suggesting development support should go "beyond market access provisions, beyond S and D, beyond preferences."
  • "How do we physically support the private sector in developing countries to become major players in the global trading environment? This is the challenge, major challenge for the development dividend to be realized in the WTO negotiations." (B, 19:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On vision for the WTO:
  • "This is a very important organization, global asset, which has contributed significantly to the expansion of the global economy... But there are challenges confronting the organization. The organization needs new energy... a new leader who has the strategic vision to lead the organization into the future." (B, 01:05)
• On candidate qualifications:
  • "If there's one candidate that brings together this unique combination of skills and experience that will respond to the challenges of this job, then in all modesty, I would say that I'm the candidate." (B, 17:08)
• On consensus-building:
  • "This is how members with different interests can come to an understanding that these issues are not mutually exclusive. And as long as they are confident that their issues will be discussed, then they can move together with a common objective and actually sit down and talk to each other." (B, 15:56)
• On SDT:
  • "This is only a necessary condition. It's not a sufficient condition. And we need to have a more robust and dynamic approach to development which will even go beyond S and D treatment." (B, 18:25)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:10–01:48 – Introduction and overview of the WTO’s importance and challenges
• 01:48–04:39 – Kyerematen’s qualifications and vision for WTO leadership
• 05:37–11:39 – The “new strategic framework”: three pillars for WTO revitalization
• 12:31–17:24 – Future issues: climate/carbon, currency, new global powers, domestic politics
• 17:24–19:40 – The WTO’s protective role for smaller/developing countries and beyond-SDT strategies

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Conclusion

Alan Kyerematen presents a robust, multidimensional vision for the future of the WTO, grounded in pragmatic consensus-building and an openness to both longstanding and emerging issues. He positions himself as ideally suited for the task, citing his technical, managerial, diplomatic, and political expertise, and he advocates for greater inclusion and real development dividends for poorer nations. His candidacy is defined by the call for a new trade consensus, strategic clarity, and a dynamic, forward-looking agenda for the WTO.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Global Prosperity wonkcast. I'm Lawrence MacDonald and I'm very pleased that in the studio with me today is one of the candidates to become the next Director General of the WTO Minister Alan Charimatin, the Minister of Trade of Ghana, Minister Cherrymatin, welcome to the show.

[B]

Thank you, Lawrence.

[A]

I'm delighted to have you here. As I was explaining before we started recording, this is one in a series of interviews we're doing. There are nine candidates altogether. It's a fairly drawn out selection process. We hope to interview all nine of them before we're through. But I'm delighted to be speaking with you. Very well.

[B]

And I'm pleased to be here too.

[A]

I read the statement that you presented in the WTO Secretariat about your interests in having this position and I've read a number of these statements now and I thought that yours was the most forthright.

[B]

Very well.

[A]

You didn't mince words about what you wanted to do.

[B]

Absolutely, that's indeed the case. My sense of this is that this is a very important organization, global asset, which has contributed significantly to the expansion of the global economy. It's a firewall against protectionism, is probably the most powerful instrument for global economic recovery. But there are challenges confronting the organization. The organization needs new energy and part of that is to have a new leader who has the strategic vision to lead the organization into the future. That is the kind of challenge that I think confronts the organization.

[A]

And with all due respect, please tell me why you think that you're that leader. What do you think about your background makes you the best choice to lead the wto?

[B]

First, the Director General of the WTO has to have extensive technical competence and skills to be able to guide the analytical work of the organization. He doesn't have to be a technician, but he needs to know enough to be able to guide the technical analysis of the organization. So it's not a technician that we are looking for, but somebody who has a strategic understanding of the technical work that needs to be done.

[A]

So as a Minister of Trade, this is your bread and butter. This is what you do.

[B]

But even gets better than that because first I'm a lawyer, but I'm also an economist and I'm also a policy analyst. And so if we are looking at this purely from a technical point of view, the combination of technical skills that you require to support the analytical work of the WTO is exactly the kind of technical skills that I have. And that combination is what gives me a comparative advantage just purely on the basis of the technical skills. However, the Director General also needs to be an experienced manager and an administrator because in spite of all the technical work that you need to guide in the organization, you also have an organization to run. You're talking about innovation in management, you're talking about financial accountability, you're talking about efficiency in the business processes. And so we have to be able to audit the background of candidates to see whether that's the kind of experience that they have. And it's not only an experience in a bureaucracy. This is bringing private sector, business oriented experiences to support an organization as big and as important as the wto. But again, the other things that the WTO Director General needs to be, he also needs to have political intuition and political guidance. Because in the long run, anybody who understands this business knows that the Geneva processes are critical, absolutely important. But in the long run it is the political direction of the capitals which will give substantive effect to decisions that are made. So that person has to have political intuition and being a minister is part of that. But you need also to have had elective office which then makes you the person who can provide that political guidance. It goes beyond also.

[A]

I'm going to cut you off. We're going to go to our first break and when we come back I want to ask you that should you become the Director General of the World Trade Organization, what's going to be your first and biggest priority? This is the Global Prosperity Wonkast. From the center for Global development, I'm Lawrence MacDonald. My guest today is Alan Turmatan, the Minister of Trade of Ghana and we're discussing his candidacy to become the next head of the wto. Will be back in a bit.

[C]

Hi, I'm Alex Gordon and I produce CGD's weekly wonk cast. Did you know CGD sends out 10 different E newsletters to sign up for our weekly development update or topic specific newsletters just visit cgdev.org and click on subscribe.

[A]

Welcome back to the Global Prosperity wonkast. I'm Lawrence MacDonald. My guest today is Alan Charmatin, the Minister of Trade of Ghana. We're discussing his candidacy to be the head of the World Trade Organization. Minister Charmatin, if you're selected, what's going to be the centerpiece of your term as the head of the wto?

[B]

I am proposing a new strategic framework for building consensus in the wto. I think this is important to be able to provide a platform and a basis for members to come to an agreement as to exactly how they move forward. This new strategic framework which I have branded as the new treat. Consensus is anchored on three pillars. The first is to secure very specific concrete outcomes, but realistic outcomes for Bali, which must be based on very specific issues around which currently members have a convergence.

[A]

Bali being the next round of WTO talks at the end of this year in Bali Indonesia.

[B]

Conference in Bali Indonesia. So that would be the first strategic pillar. And this must be based, as I said, on issues around which members have a convergence. And so, for example, trade facilitation, it's a likely candidate for that. There are other issues that may be likely candidates, but that will be part of building that consensus, which becomes the first pillar of the new strategic framework. The second pillar, second pillar is defining a post Bali agenda which would include a strategic roadmap to conclude the round. And again also an indication of the substantive areas of negotiations around which members have a convergence.

[A]

When you say the round, you're referring to the Doha Development Round. So you actually think the Doha Development Round can be completed?

[B]

Well, whichever way it is, there has to be a consensus on how to complete it. And that's exactly what I mean by the second pillar, which is a strategic roadmap. The strategic roadmap defines the time frame because we cannot have this going on in perpetuity. And secondly, the content of what is agreed on to conclude the round has to be negotiated and it will be built around areas where currently there is enough convergence amongst members.

[A]

Do you think it's possible that the round will just not be completed? I noticed that the G20 always, every time they meet, they say, we promise to complete the round. If I remember correctly, last time the G20 met, they omitted this and there was a sigh of relief from the trade community because it had become so unrealistic to always promise to complete the round. Can we imagine a WTO that doesn't have a round in process and where they're. They just work on other stuff besides doing a ground round. And actually, I noticed in your statement you did discuss this distinction between proceeding on a broad front with a big agreement and then other things that could get done in the absence of that.

[B]

Yes, very much so. The round is meant to ensure that trade develops development to particularly the developing countries and the least developing countries. So for the majority of members of the organization, it is important that we come to some closure on the Doha Round. And for its own sake, it would create a very powerful effect for the whole multilateral trading system that at least we got some traction with with the Doha Round and all the issues surrounding agriculture, non agricultural market access Rules and the various negotiating areas. These are the kinds of things for most of the developing countries will confer the development dividends to them. So whatever combination of issues would create the platform for concluding the round, there has to be some consensus that this is what completes the round.

[A]

So that's your second pillar.

[B]

The third pillar is defining the strategic direction for the multilateral trading system. So there is Bali, there's post Bali, and then there's the future of the entire multilateral trading system. And this is important because there are changes in global dynamics which impact trade. And these are considerations that have to be analyzed and fed into this whole dialogue and process of agreeing on what the multilateral trading system is about. I mean, there are issues relating to changes in production and distribution processes such as global value chains. There are issues relating to consumption patterns based on the growing middle income. There's deepening of poverty in countries, least developed countries, small and vulnerable economies have significant problems that have to be addressed. But of course there are also opportunities that have emerged on the basis of new emerging countries that have become major trading blocs. To what extent do the emerging economics in impact on the global governance architecture? So all these have to be analyzed as part of the third pillar which then becomes shaping the future direction of the multilateral trading system. Now, if we can come to an agreement on these three pillars, that alone provides a basis for members to go on and now negotiate substantively on all the outstanding issues. And I'm proposing five strategic drivers.

[A]

We're gonna hold that because I'm gonna take the second break now. You've led very well into our third and final session. When I wanna ask you about some of these over the horizon, these new issues that are coming up. This is the Global Prosperity Wonkcast. From the center for Global development, I'm Lawrence MacDonald. My guest today, Minister Alan Cherimatin. He's one of several candidates to become the next head of the World Trade Organization. We will be back in.

[C]

Hi, I'm Alex Gordon, based in Washington and interested in development policy. If you don't already receive invitations to our lively events, you'll want to sign [e-mail].

[A]

Welcome back to the Global Prosperity Wonkast. You described your three pillars. I know you've got five points in your platform. The thing that I'm most interested in is this idea of future issues. And you were very articulate before in saying how the world has changed. And one set of changes that interests me in particular that you haven't touched on is the question of countries moving to put a price on carbon and how this then in turn could lead to countervailing tariffs that countries that have not done cap and trade or have carbon taxes might be subject to some tariffs. Do you see this as being a significant issue that the WTO is going to want to get involved in?

[B]

I think so. As part of the collection of new issues that have to be analyzed. Obviously this is part of it. But you know, the whole issue of climate change and how it impacts on development is the subject of major dialogue and discourse on its own, either within the UN or within other international organizations. It is the connectivity with trade that we are interested in. So there's a more focused and limited discussion which I believe should be part of the new issues. And once we agree that this will be dealt with, then those who feel that old issues such as agriculture are important for them would feel committed to the process because they know that discussing climate change and carbon trading does not suggest that developed countries or other countries that are interested in these new issues are abandoning their commitment to discuss the outstanding old issues. This is the kind of understanding between members that we are looking for to be able to move the process forward. Of course, there are many other new issues and again, all we need is to get agreement amongst members. Old issues are important, but new issues are also important, mutually exclusive.

[A]

Tell me a few of the other new issues because I'm particularly interested in the one I asked you about, but I know there are many others. What should our listeners be thinking about in terms of new issues?

[B]

Well, there are issues relating to currency exchange and how it impacts on trade. There are issues relating to the emergence of new global powers. As I said, there are issues relating to energy and how it impacts on development, particularly trade. And there are issues relating to the increasing influence of domestic constituencies in shaping trade policy at the national, regional and then the multilateral level. And this may not originally have been part of the Doha negotiating agenda, but to the extent that we did not anticipate 10 to 15 years ago that they will become such important factors in analyzing trade, they've creeped up on us and we have to have a strategic opening for a discussion on these matters. I think this is how members with different interests can come to an understanding that these issues are not mutually exclusive. And as long as they are confident that their issues will be discussed, then they can move together with a common objective and actually sit down and talk to each other. Right now people are doing self selection. I want to discuss this, but I don't want to touch on this before we discuss this. So I believe that that common understanding is what the new trade consensus is discussing. And I believe that the complexity of managing this process of forging a new trade consensus requires a man of different parts. And that's what my unique selling proposition is. As I said, I'll bring to this job the skills of a technical person, but I also bring practical negotiating experience. I bring my extensive managerial experience both as a corporate executive in the private sector and also in the public sector. I bring to this job the skills of a diplomat, having been ambassador to the United States, which is important for negotiations. I bring my political instincts, my political intuition, having run to the level of the presidential elections. And so, in a sense, if there's one candidate that brings together this unique combination of skills and experience that will respond to the challenges of this job, then in all modesty, I would say that I'm the candidate.

[A]

We're just about done. I have one more question and you've given such an elegant summation of your candidacy, I'm tempted to just end it there. But something I discussed with the other candidates is this notion that the WTO as a rules based system provides protections for smaller countries. And as person from one of those smaller countries, I wonder if you could reflect for a bit about the role of the WTO as an intermediation between the big trading powers and the much more numerous but smaller countries that are part of the global trading system.

[B]

The provisions that relate to special and differential treatment, which includes certain preferences that are granted to smaller developing countries, were meant to create a level playing field and also give the opportunity of weaker developing countries to be able to participate in global trade. Now this is important and I think to a large extent the LDCs that have been able to make great strides in global trade now have done so with the support of these provisions for special and differential treatment. But my own sense is that this is only a necessary condition. It's not a sufficient condition. And we need to have a more robust and dynamic approach to development which will even go beyond S and D treatment. We are talking about how to empower, empower small and medium enterprises linking up with large companies through supply chain, value chain arrangements to be able to compete in the international market. So whether it's through technical assistance for trade, we need now to have a sense of beyond market access provisions, beyond S and T sdt, beyond preferences. How do we physically support the private sector in developing countries to become major players in the global trading environment? This is the challenge, major challenge for the development dividend to be realized in the WTO negotiations.

[A]

Well, thank you so much for taking time to come by. I learned a lot. I always do in the Wonkast, but I especially learned a lot today. It's been my pleasure today to be interviewing Minister Alan Tirammatan of Ghana, the trade minister of Ghana, one of several candidates to become the next Director General of the wto. Thanks for joining me on the show.

[B]

Thank you very much, Lawrence.

[A]

This has been the Global Prosperity Wonkcast from the center for Global Development. You can find the Wonkast online on itunes and on Stitcher. Just search for wonkcast or CGD and subscribe to hear a new interview every week. Until next time, I'm Lawrence MacDonald. Thanks for listening.

[B]

SAM SA SAM.