The WTO has to work on the reform of the dispute settlement system in order to make sure that the rulemaking of the WTO still has the credibility it deserves， the WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said during a session of the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia （BFA） centered on the theme of the WTO Reform： The Road Ahead via a video link on April 19， 2021。
George Yong-Boon Yeo， former Member of Parliament and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore， said that part of the reasons for the paralyzed the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and failure in judge appointment was that former U。S。 President Donald Trump hoped to use this to push the WTO reforms。 Carlos Gutierrez， Director of the BFA Board and former U。S。 Secretary of Commerce， said that the paralysis of the dispute settlement mechanism has affected the operation of the WTO in the past few years， but he believes that the new U。S。 government will not continue to prevent judges from being appointed to the Appellate Body。
Gutierrez said when the WTO considered making reforms， it always tended to design some very ideal systems and mechanisms。 However， the current policies， such as its trade policies， are very fragile， leaving room for improvement。 He suggested a consensus or an agreement should be reached on trade， rules and multilateralism， instead of setting overly ambitious goals at the beginning which can discourage relevant countries。 This in itself can be an amazing improvement。
Michele Geraci， Former Undersecretary of State， Italian Ministry of Economic Development， echoed Gutierrez by saying that the WTO reform really needs to be done step by step and go through trials and errors。 Such gradual approaches can help to avoid the tough positions of certain countries。
Okonjo-Iweala believed that the WTO’s responsibility lies in rules， and rules should keep up with changes in the world。 Whether it is a digital economy or e-commerce， it is the trend of the future。 The WTO should pay attention to some very critical and deliverable results。 For example， at this year’s ministerial conference in December， if members can identify some important topics and overcome differences， they can successfully achieve tangible results， strengthening mutual trust。 “We should first achieve some initial results in the trade of medical and health products， as well as agriculture，” she said。
Gutierrez agreed on that agriculture and fishery are both very important and the digital economy is also developing rapidly。 “People always complained that the WTO’s actions were too slow。 How can we follow the pace of rapid changes in the world， especially the pace of the development of the digital economy？ These are problems to be unresolved，” Gutierrez said。
“For developed and developing countries to cooperate on the WTO platform， they must adhere to the core principles of the WTO， that is， non-discrimination and openness，” said Zhang Yuyan， Director General of Institute of World Economics and Politics， Chinese Academy of Social Science， adding that as the development stages of developing countries and developed countries are different， the WTO reform should pay attention to safeguarding the interests of developing countries and give them the flexibility they need in the development process。
Okonjo-Iweala said that such special and differential treatment is necessary and needed by developing countries。 However， developed and developing countries have different views on this。 Developing countries and low-income countries need help and support。 For developing countries to participate in e-commerce negotiations， they must first bridge the digital divide。 They need help on this。 But some developed countries think that this playing field is not fair and many imbalances exist。 The WTO must find a way forward and strike a balance between these two different views。