Dr Jesus Seade Kuri presents his candidacy for WTO's Director-General in Geneva, Berlin and Paris

• The visit to Europe reinforces the global strategy of the Government of Mexico to support the nomination of Jesus Seade to lead the WTO.

• Dr Seade's global profile and experience in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the WTO are emblematic of Mexico’s multilateral foreign policy.

As part of his candidacy to head the World Trade Organization and under special sanitary protocols following local health measures, Dr Jesus Seade Kuri travelled to Geneva -headquarters of the World Trade Organization-, Berlin and Paris between July 9 and 30. In all three countries, Seade Kuri held meetings with various ambassadors of the WTO member countries, business people, diplomats, high-level public officials and media from around the world.

In Geneva, Dr Seade presented his candidacy and work plan to the WTO General Council and later held a press conference with leading international media specialized in economic affairs. During his stay, he held meetings with 103 delegations from member countries, in bilateral, group, regional and thematic formats. The former chief negotiator of the USMCA highlighted the need to promote a new multilateralism that provides greater coherence to the decisions of international trade and financial organizations.

In Berlin, Seade Kuri held meetings with the Secretary of State of the Federal Foreign Office, Ambassador Miguel Berger; the head of the Economy and Development Unit of that Ministry, Michael Klor-Berchtold; the director general of International Economic Affairs of the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, Eckhard Franz; and the director of the International Economic Affairs Unit of the German Federal Chancellery, Helen Winter. On these occasions, Dr Seade explained that this is a decisive moment to reform the WTO, with a work agenda that includes key 21st-century issues, as well as different public policies to boost global trade despite the negative effects on global value chains caused by the current pandemic.

In front of a number of German business groups -among them, the Confederation of German Industry (BDI), the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), and the Confederation of the German Automotive Industry (VDA)- Dr Seade stressed out that one of his priorities as Director-General of the WTO would be to reactivate its capacity to reach agreements. This would be made with effective negotiations in the WTO between the main stakeholders in global trade and combining experience, pragmatism and innovative solutions.

In Paris, the Mexican candidate for the WTO Director-General met with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Franck Riester; the head of the Unit for Globalization, Culture, Education and International Development of the French Chancellery, Cyrille Pierre and with the Director-General of the Treasury, equivalent to Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Odile Renaud-Basso. At these meetings, Seade Kuri stressed the importance of strengthening the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism so that it can regulate global trade efficiently and transparently. On these occasions, the Mexican candidate highlighted the importance of gender equality, diversity and plurality in his work teams, as well as the role of the WTO in promoting sustainable economic development at the global level.

Additionally, Seade Kuri held a meeting with Jose Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the OECD, in which he underlined the broad multilateralist tradition of our country and the Mexican vocation in favour of free and fair international trade. They highlighted the significant support of the OECD to the WTO, as well as the necessary coordination between international organizations to promote trade and economic recovery.

Because of his extensive professional career and knowledge of the economies in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Dr Seade's candidacy for the WTO is promoted and supported by the Government of Mexico, as a platform to strengthen the organization and the global multilateral architecture in general.