Top Stories
WTO fixes date for major meeting in Cameroon in early 2026
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on December 16, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on December 16, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
GENEVA (Reuters) – World Trade Organization members agreed on Monday to hold the next ministerial conference in Cameroon in early 2026, the global trade watchdog said in a statement.
GENEVA (Reuters) – World Trade Organization members agreed on Monday to hold the next ministerial conference in Cameroon in early 2026, the global trade watchdog said in a statement.
The WTO holds such conferences every two years where trade ministers from around the globe gather to try to reach deals to set or update new trade rules.
Cameroon’s ambassador Salomon Eheth told a WTO meeting in Geneva he hoped the event scheduled from March 26-29, 2026 would be an opportunity to show the world the potential of Cameroon and Africa for investment and sustainable development, the WTO statement said.
Analysts expect the road ahead for the three-decade-old WTO will be challenging, likely characterised by trade wars with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
The organisation has struggled to conclude negotiations in recent months and its last meeting in Abu Dhabi in February achieved only minimal results in negotiations where all 166 of the body’s members must agree by consensus.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was re-appointed in November for a second term, said in a Geneva meeting last week that negotiators needed a fresh approach to negotiations in order to break the current deadlock.
“We must focus on delivering outcomes wherever and whenever possible,” the former Nigerian finance minister said. “Negotiating in the 2020s requires a more dynamic approach, one where each area is considered on its own merits, allowing us to make progress across the board.”
(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Rachel More)
Trade rules are agreements and regulations established by countries to govern international trade practices, including tariffs, trade barriers, and the rights and obligations of trading partners.
Sustainable development is a development approach that seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, often focusing on economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Investment refers to the allocation of resources, usually money, into assets or projects with the expectation of generating a profit or income over time.
Economic growth is the increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over a period, typically measured by the rise in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Explore more articles in the Top Stories category
