Financial Times (London, England)

May 14, 2005 Saturday
Asia Edition 1

SECTION: FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 239 words

HEADLINE: Lamy's last rival for WTO post withdraws

BYLINE: By ALAN BEATTIE and FRANCES WILLIAMS

DATELINE: LONDON and GENEVA

BODY:


Pascal Lamy, the French former European Union trade commissioner, will become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation after his remaining rival withdrew from the race yesterday.

The man who once described WTO negotiations as "medieval" will now face the task of making its procedures work in the face of slow progress in the Doha round of global trade liberalisation talks and as a critical meeting of ministers in Hong Kong looms in December.

Carlos Perez del Castillo, Uruguay's former WTO envoy and the other remaining candidate from the original four, conceded defeat yesterday after a third round of consultation of the organisation's member countries showed Mr Lamy ahead.

Mr Lamy's strongest opponents - Latin American banana-growing countries such as Costa Rica, which suspect he favours their Caribbean competitors - signalled they would drop their objections. Barring a last-minute hitch, Mr Lamy will be confirmed within two weeks and will replace Supachai Panitchpakdi, the incumbent, in September.

The selection process has largely been free of the bitterness that marred the previous selection in 1999 and resulted in the post being split between two candidates.

Mr Lamy declined to comment ahead of his formal adoption by the WTO's general council, scheduled for May 26. Claude Veron-Reville, a Brussels official, said: "He's uniquely qualified to lead the WTO at this decisive moment." 'Exocet missile', Page 5

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