HERMINIO BLANCO IN EUROPE TO EXPLAIN HIS PLAN FOR THE WTO

· Mexico’s candidate for the World Trade Organization ended his week in Europe, after visiting the capitals of Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and France.

After traveling to four European capitals, Dr. Herminio Blanco ended his week with a trip to Copenhagen. In every city, he explained his plans should he be elected as WTO Director General, a position for which he has been nominated by the Mexican government.

In the Danish capital, he met with the Minister for Development and Investment, Pia Olsen Dyhr; Permanent Secretary of State Christian Kettel Thomsen; and the Secretary of State for Trade and Strategy, Lars Thuesen.

In Stockholm, Dr. Blanco met with Trade Minister Ewa Björling and Frank Belfrage, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

During his discussions, Blanco said that the WTO has played a key role in making trade a dynamic engine of growth and development and, in recent years, the agency has successfully resisted the protectionist pressures that arose following the global economic crisis.

However, the WTO now needs renewed impetus to ensure that it remains the leading global player in trade, which must drive the recovery of the international economy.

The most pressing challenges to achieving this are the successful conclusion of the Doha Round, removal of protectionist measures and making international trade into a way to achieve the development of societies by encouraging more equitable conditions for trade.

Before traveling to Stockholm, Blanco met in Brussels with officials from the Belgian government and the European Union, and he participated in an event organized by the Friends of Europe think tank entitled "WTO: Free Trade at a Time of Crisis."

Earlier this week, in Paris, the Mexican candidate to the WTO met with Pierre Sellal, Secretary General of the French Foreign Ministry, and with Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq.

In all four European countries, Dr. Blanco emphasized that his candidacy is backed by a 27-year career as a promoter of free trade in both the private and public sectors and that he has a vast experience as a key player in negotiating free trade agreements between Mexico and the United States, the European Union and other countries.

At all of his visits to promote his candidacy, Blanco has expressed his desire to put his extensive experience at the service of all of the WTO member countries. He goes to Africa next week.