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The WTO DG, who said she was on a thank you visit to Nigeria and the ECOWAS for the support she received in the run up to her elections into the trade body, stressed that in a pandemic, an economy cannot be advanced until the health sector was taken care of.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ:\u00a0Okonjo-Iweala thanks Buhari for support, says WTO to give Nigeria technical economic assistance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201dThe main reason we are here is really to see how the WTO can support Nigeria, in improving its economy. \u2018We are in a pandemic and of course, you cannot advance the economy until you take care of the health aspects.<\/p>\n \u201dWhat the Secretary to the Government office is doing along with the presidential Task Force is laudable, and we wanted to just discuss with them, one, what is happening, the arrival of the COVID vaccines, how that is being distributed, the challenges, opportunities on the way of that and that the WTO can do.<\/p>\n \u201cInterestingly, trade is very instrumental in access to medical supplies and equipment, because how do they get from one place to the other? It is through trade.<\/p>\n \u2018Part of the challenges we\u2019ve had in this pandemic, is the fact that some of our member countries put export restrictions on the movement of medical supplies, equipment, and even supplies to make vaccines.<\/p>\n \u201cSo one of the things that WTO can do is to work with members to reduce these export restrictions. If you take vaccines, for instance, I\u2019ll just give you one number from the manufacturer of Pfizer, the Pfizer BioTech vaccine.<\/p>\n \u201dWe had a meeting with the manufacturers a couple of days ago in Geneva and their representative said that it takes 280 components to manufacture their vaccine. And it\u2019s in a supply chain that involves 19 countries.<\/p>\n \u201dSo in the supply chains, so many of our products, medical products are global. And so when a country puts export restrictions on one, it means that you slow the production everywhere, that\u2019s where the WTO comes in.<\/p>\n \u201dBecause, we have certain rules that members should abide by, with respect to these restrictions. And we play a fundamental role in making sure that medical supplies and equipment and vaccines circulate.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we are here to see what we can do to support Nigeria. I have to personally say, I was chair of GAVI, the vaccine alliance for five years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The DG said that she was proud to know the progress that has been made.<\/p>\n Responding, Mustapha noted that the pandemic came with an impactson the nation\u2019s economy but provided an opportunity for the country to really go back and look at her systems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing about COVID-19 is that it has exposed the weaknesses of all systems.<\/p>\n \u201dEven the most established democracies and economies have been brought to their knees by the adverse effects of COVID-19.<\/p>\n \u201dI think the developing economies stand to benefit if they learn from the lessons of this adverse impacts and look at their systems, their governance system, their economic foundations, and the need to heighten inclusion in the way we develop our agendas and our programmes.<\/p>\n \u201cOur vaccines have arrived. And I want to take this opportunity to truly thank you for your efforts as chair of GAVI, in ensuring because I kept getting reports that you are on everybody\u2019s neck to ensure that Nigeria got it supplies.<\/p>\n \u201dAs you spend some more time at home before you return to your base, we will continue to uphold you in prayers because Nigeria is a praying country. So that your tenure will bring succour and relief to countries that are under intense economic pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The SGF also congratulated Okonjo-Iweala for being the first woman, and the first African to have ascended to the office of the DG of the WTO, said her new position was timely considering the various conflicts Nigeria was facing.<\/p>\n The PTF chairman said: \u201cAt a time when Nigeria is conflicted, somehow, but it is at its best on the international arena, Your, election is a testimony to your proven track record.<\/p>\n \u201dSo we are very, very confident that your election into this office will bring a lot of good goodwill to Nigeria\u201d.<\/p>\n Before the meeting with the PTF , Okonjo-Iweala held separate discussions with the SGF, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Information and Culture, Ahaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Environment, Mr Muhammad Mahmood; Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora; and the National Incident Manager (NIM) PTF, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, among others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has paid a courtesy call on Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House in Abuja. In the Tuesday visit, Okonjo- Iweala thanked the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,7],"tags":[41,563,564,228],"coauthors":[25],"class_list":{"0":"post-6768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"category-top-news","9":"category-world","10":"tag-nigeria","11":"tag-okonjo-iweala","12":"tag-wto","13":"tag-yemi-osinbajo"},"yoast_head":"\n