WTO Chief Urges Calm as AI and Digital Trade Emerge as Growth Engines

As MC14 approaches, the WTO’s ability to modernize its rules and remain relevant to AI-enabled and digital-first trade models could shape how global commerce evolves in the next decade.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala used the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos to deliver a clear message to global leaders and business executives: stay steady amid rising trade tensions—and don’t miss the next wave of tech-driven trade growth.

Speaking during the WEF meeting held from 19 to 23 January, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted artificial intelligence, digital trade, services, and green trade as some of the most promising growth areas for the global economy, even as the multilateral trading system faces what she described as its most severe disruptions in 80 years.

With tariff threats and geopolitical frictions escalating, she urged leaders to avoid knee-jerk reactions. Her advice: “keep steady nerves” as pressure mounts on global supply chains and trade rules.

AI, Digital Trade, and the Next Growth Frontier

In her public engagements and closed-door meetings with heads of state, ministers, and CEOs, Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that technology-enabled trade could help counter slowing growth and rising fragmentation—if adopted inclusively.

During a panel on “Global Economic Outlook”, she pointed to AI’s potential to reduce trade costs and boost productivity, while cautioning that uneven adoption could widen global inequalities.

“AI will help reduce trade costs and increase productivity,” she said, adding that its full impact depends on how broadly it is deployed across economies.

She reinforced this message in a separate session titled “Many Shapes of Trade”, noting that services trade—projected to grow 4.4 percent in 2026—and green trade, now valued at US$2 trillion, are among the fastest-growing segments of global commerce.

“I dream about an organization that can be flexible enough so that members can seize these opportunities,” she said, signaling the need for a more adaptive WTO framework.

WTO Reform Back on the Table

Trade reform was also a central theme. On 22 January, Okonjo-Iweala participated in an informal ministerial meeting hosted by Swiss President Guy Parmelin and facilitated by State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda, where ministers discussed priorities for the upcoming 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for March in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Following the meeting, she welcomed the positive convergence among ministers on the urgency of WTO reform. A Swiss government summary noted that ministers committed to delivering the political guidance needed to strengthen and preserve the rules-based multilateral trading system.

Addressing concerns that new bilateral and regional trade agreements could sideline the WTO, Okonjo-Iweala pushed back, stressing that most of these agreements rely on WTO rules and platforms rather than competing with them.

Why It Matters for Tech and Global Business

For tech companies, digital platforms, and AI-driven service providers, the message from Davos was unambiguous: the future of trade is increasingly digital, services-led, and green—but its success depends on coordinated reform and inclusive technology adoption.

As MC14 approaches, the WTO’s ability to modernize its rules and remain relevant to AI-enabled and digital-first trade models could shape how global commerce evolves in the next decade.