Asia-Pacific leaders “fear” that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is “no longer effective,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday.
The President had earlier urged the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member to revive the WTO’s trade dispute mechanism.
But his move to reconvene the WTO’s Appellate Court — which last held sessions in 2019 due to a lack of quorum — did not get the support needed for it to be included in the APEC Leaders’ Declaration this year.
“The fear that everyone is feeling now is that the principles that guided the creation of the WTO are no longer in place or are no longer effective,” the President said in a press conference before leaving for Manila on Saturday.
“A great deal of what was spoken about is that we have to return to the free market principles that WTO was created for,” he said.
“The WTO was created to spur the growth of the free market, but that is no longer the case as several countries enforce protectionism or policies that are “closing markets,” the President said.
“Kaya ngayon parang hindi na nasusundan yung ating unang idea na WTO will help us open markets between countries,” he said.
“The world is really turning. Things are changing,” the President added.
