President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that, on behalf of the Mexican government, the Economy Ministry formally submitted in Geneva the nomination of Jesús Seade Kuri for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The President noted that the current Undersecretary for North America at the Foreign Ministry served previously as WTO Deputy Director-General and has a wealth of experience that makes him an authority in international relations with specific expertise in trade relations, as demonstrated during the talks to that led to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“He is a fair, professional, principled and honest negotiator. He believes that there should be understanding among countries to facilitate trade relations, that there should be no obstacles to trade and that we should have a global economy, a world economy, characterized by free trade and with no monopolies, in which all countries—large and small—can participate in commercial activities.”

The President added that Economy Secretary Graciela Márquez Colín formally submitted the candidacy of Undersecretary Seade to the WHO at its headquarters in Geneva.

He further instructed Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon to provide all necessary support for the nomination.

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Jesús Seade holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

He has served as Associate Vice-President for Global Affairs at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK-Shenzhen University) and as Vice-President of Lingnan University, Hong Kong.

From 1998 to 2006, he was a senior advisor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

From 1994 to 1998, he was Deputy Director-General at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and GATT.

From 1989 to 1994, he was Mexico's Chief Negotiator in the creation of the WTO and Ambassador to GATT.

From 1998 to 2010, he served on the International Economic Law Advisory Board at Georgetown Law School.

He has been senior expert for fiscal policy in the Country Policies Department at the World Bank.

He has been Chair Professor at Warwick University, UK and professor at El Colegio de México.