Trade monitoring
Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson of the Trade Policy Review Body, H.E. Mr. Eloi Laourou of Benin, at the Trade Policy Review of Ecuador, 5 and 7 March 2019
This third Trade Policy Review has allowed us to deepen our understanding of Ecuador’s trade and investment policies, in particular in regard to the reforms and changes introduced since the last Review in 2011. I would like to thank the Ecuadorian delegation headed by Mr. Diego Caicedo, Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, for its engagement throughout this exercise. I would also like to thank our discussant, Ambassador Eduardo Sperisen-Yurt, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the WTO, for his remarks, which set an important basis for this Review, as well as the 33 delegations which took the floor.
Understanding the WTO
There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.