India's Economic Surge: The WTO Looks to India for Reforms

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala praised India's trade growth and Minister Goyal's leadership. She urged India to spearhead WTO reforms, emphasizing support for developing nations through multilateral systems. The WTO aims to aid India in navigating digital, green trade, and supply chain challenges, vital for global trade resilience.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), emphasized India's pivotal role in the global economic landscape, attributing the country's rapid growth to robust trade initiatives. She lauded India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, for his commitment to advancing trade agreements, which underpin the nation's GDP expansion.

Addressing the 30th CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Visakhapatnam, Okonjo-Iweala linked India's economic acceleration to its export performance, with data from the Commerce and Industry Ministry revealing a 4.45% growth in cumulative exports from April to September 2025. She underscored the significance of bolstering the multilateral trading system, with a call for India to lead WTO reforms, stressing the importance for developing countries.

Okonjo-Iweala expressed optimism about India driving WTO reforms, focusing on supply chain diversification, digital, and green trade opportunities. She noted India's potential to influence global trade by addressing structural challenges within the WTO, including public stockholding and mandates, positioning India as a leader in this transformative era of global trade.

(With inputs from agencies.)