The World Trade Organization's 166 members appeared deeply divided as ministers gathered in the Cameroonian capital for a key conference starting Thursday, amid global economic turmoil linked to the Middle East war.
Over four days, WTO members will try to revitalise an institution weakened by geopolitical tensions, stalled negotiations and rising protectionism -- against the backdrop of a war that poses a serious threat to international trade.
The atmosphere ahead of the meeting was "tense", a Western diplomatic source told AFP, asking not to be named.
"I think that's because it's tense in the global trading system." WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called Wednesday for the Yaounde meeting to "launch the next chapter of the multilateral trading system".
She slammed "the unilateralism we have been seeing", decrying the "collective failure" of WTO members over the years to confront their concerns and frustrations.
- 'A pivotal moment' - The WTO ministerial conference, its supreme decision-making body, is usually held every other year.
Ahead of the 14th edition (MC14), a number of countries expressed hope that the conference could mark a turning point for the organisation.
Two years after the WTO's last ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi failed to make meaningful progress on key issues like fisheries and agriculture, member states face even stauncher challenges.
Their main task will be to develop a plan towards reforming a WTO that has proven to be powerless in the face of rising protectionism and largely incapable of negotiating new agreements.
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic called Monday for "serious" reform of the organisation, insisting that "the level playing field, overcapacity and market policies must be better tackled than in the past".
Britain also said in a recent submission that it believes "the WTO is at a pivotal moment", warning that "without reform it will slide into irrelevance".
Several members....
