Global value chains (GVCs) have been resilient in the face of rising geopolitical tensions, financial uncertainty, climate pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic according to the GVC Development Report 2025 launched at the WTO on 15 December. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the launch (...)
At a series of services meetings, held during the week of 9 December, the WTO Council for Trade in Services and its subsidiary bodies discussed green services, facilitating cross-border remittance transfers, and the classification of environmental services among other issues. Members also (...)
At the 12 December meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the chairs of negotiating bodies under the TNC reported on prospects for ministerial decisions at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for 26-29 March in Yaoundé, Cameroon. (...)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on 11 December praised the contributions of the 19 participants in the 2025 Young Professionals Programme at a farewell ceremony marking the conclusion of this year's programme.
At the opening of the Trade in Services for Development (TS4D) Conference on 3-4 December, the WTO and World Bank highlighted progress in the initiative's efforts to help developing economies leverage services trade for growth and development. Emphasizing the importance of services trade for (...)
At the Trade in Services for Development (TS4D) Conference on 3 and 4 December, the WTO Secretariat and the World Bank launched new analytical and capacity building tools to help developing economies harness the potential of services trade to drive economic growth. The new tools, accessible (...)
At a meeting of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) on 2 December, WTO members reviewed five regional trade agreements involving China, Ecuador, Israel, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Türkiye, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They also reviewed other (...)
At the International AI Standards Summit held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 2-3 December, Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam emphasized the importance of the multilateral trading system in fostering trustworthy, interoperable and inclusive standards for artificial intelligence (...)
The Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) held its fourth and final open-ended meeting of 2025 on 2 December, focusing on deepening the presence of MSME voices at the WTO and sharing new resources to support MSME internationalization. The Group launched the (...)
The value of global goods imports affected by new tariffs and other import measures increased more than fourfold from mid-October 2024 to mid-October 2025 compared to the prior 12-month period, marking the highest coverage in over 15 years of WTO trade monitoring, according to the WTO (...)