GENEVA (SWITZERLAND), June 12: A Nepali delegation led by Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu arrived in Geneva, Switzerland to attend the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that is scheduled to take place from June 12 to 15.  

Minister Badu is accompanied by secretary Ganesh Prasad Pandeya and senior officials at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Ambassador of Nepal to Switzerland Mani Bhattarai, who is also Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office, World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva, will join the Nepali delegation.

Minister Badu is scheduled to address the WTO Ministerial Meeting on Monday.

Nepal is preparing to raise issue of trade facilitation, support measures for post-pandemic economic recovery and continued support to Nepal as a Least Developed Country (LDC) even beyond 2026-- the year Nepal expects to graduate from LDC status-- as the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected its efforts to build resilient economy by then.

Trade ministers from all across the world are expected to address the Ministerial Meeting to raise their country-specific problems. They will have the opportunity to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system and take action on the future works of the WTO.

The Conference will be co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan's President. Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020 but the conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WTO’s ministerial meeting is taking place in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic that battered the world economy. The record-high inflation rate across the world after Russia's invasion of Ukraine is also expected to surface prominently during the meeting. 

 
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