WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala Appoints 4 Deputies From US, China, Others

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has announced four Deputy Directors-General.

The appointees are Angela Ellard of the United States, Anabel González of Costa Rica, Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam of France, and Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang of China.

Okonjo-Iweala said it is the first time in the history of the organization that half of the DDGs are women.

The development, she explained, underscored her commitment to strengthening the WTO with talented leaders while achieving gender balance in senior positions.

Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, is the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO.

The 67-year-old former World Bank Managing Director assumed office on March 1, 2021, after a keenly contested race.

The profile of Angela Ellard shows she negotiated and delivered bipartisan trade policy outcomes and legislation with members of U.S. Congress and senior Trump, Obama, Bush, and Clinton Administration officials.

Anabel González served as Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica; as Director-General for International Trade Negotiations; as Director-General of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), among others.

Jean-Marie Paugam held senior management positions in the French Government on trade, most recently as Permanent Representative of France to the WTO.

Xiangchen Zhang is the current Vice Minister in the Ministry of Commerce of China. He was China’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and previously as Deputy Permanent Representative.