Allgemeine Zeitung

Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt) Mamdouh (67) ran the WTO's trade in services division from 2001 to 2017. "Africa never held that position before and it's time because all other regions have occupied that position."

Amina Mohamed (Kenya) Mohamed (58) is well-known at the WTO, having already chaired the organisation's most important bodies. "We need to break the cycle of despair and enter into a new phase of hope and realism."

Jesús Seade Kuri (Mexico) A former WTO deputy director-general, Seade (73) is a former World Bank chief economist and International Monetary Fund assistant director. "The WTO is like a bicycle that fell over from lack of momentum. It has to be fully repaired, which requires a mechanic who ... was at the heart of the design."

Liam Fox (Britain) Fox (58) spent three years as Britain's first post-Brexit international trade minister. "Free trade must never mean a free-for-all."

Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) Al-Tuwaijri (53), a former Saudi economy minister, currently advises the kingdom's royal court on economic strategy. "If all wheels do not spin as designed, the tricycle cannot carry the members forward to reach their goal."

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) Her country's first female finance and foreign minister, Okonjo-Iweala (66) had a 25-year career as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two. "If the right washes the left hand, and the left hand washes the right hand, then both become clean. This is a call for collective action."

Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova) Ulianovschi (37) served as Moldova's foreign minister from January 2018 to June 2019 but before that he had been his country's ambassador to the UN and the WTO in Geneva. "The time is always right to do what's right. Let's win together!"

Yoo Myung-hee (South Korea) Yoo (53) became South Korea's first female trade minister in March last year after a career in trade diplomacy and foreign affairs. "Despite many challenges, I am confident that the WTO will regain the hope and optimism."