Paraguayan President describes importance of trade openness in speech at WTO — MercoPress

Paraguayan President describes importance of trade openness in speech at WTO

Saturday, February 1st 2025 – 10:00 UTC

Peña is to stay in Switzerland until Sunday

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Friday underlined the importance of trade openness and multilateralism during his speech at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) headquarters in Geneva. Peña highlighted “the importance of global integration to strengthen trade and resilience in the face of uncertainty,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIC) said in a statement.

The Colorado Party leader and former Economy Minister also noted that “multilateral trade is fundamental for economies such as Paraguay’s”, where agriculture plays “a key role.” The President also argued that the way to solve any crisis was “a greater commitment to multilateralism” where “clear and fair trade rules” were paramount. Paraguay’s development hinges on “greater integration in global markets and not isolation,” contended Peña, who has been touring Switzerland since Thursday. He will remain in that country until Sunday.

In his message before the plenary of the 166-member WTO, Peña called for fair and sustainable international trade that does not favor the largest economies to the detriment of developing countries. He also underscored “the role of a middle power country in strengthening the Multilateral Trading System in an environment of uncertainty.”

He also pointed out that Paraguay’s history offers a valuable perspective on the role of middle power countries in strengthening the multilateral system. “Our history has shown us that cooperation, coordination and coloration are the only weapons to overcome instability, uncertainty and conflict,” Peña said.

“Only a stable, free and fair international trading system can make it possible to overcome poverty as well as the ominous threat of armed conflict,” Peña also argued while highlighting the WTO’s role “ensuring peaceful solutions to conflicts, facilitating free trade and stimulating the progress of countries.”

“We need to make significant progress in agricultural trade reforms to have a less distorted market and improve food security; we must restore full-functioning dispute settlement systems that are accessible to all, and ensure that environmental measures improve rather than hinder international trade. So too must ensuring fairness and equality are the principles of international trade,” he also noted.

The Presidential entourage includes Ministers Rubén Ramírez Lezcano (Foreign Affairs), Javier Giménez (Industry and Commerce), and César Ramírez (Sports), among other high-ranking officials.

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