A Clash of Ideologies Over Choice of Next WTO Chief
International Herald Tribune
November 16, 1998
Thomas Fuller

For Roy MacLaren, free trade is not merely an attractive option for the world — it's the only option. And while that's not a surprising view for a contender for the top job at the World Trade Organization, Mr. MacLaren's unequivocal stand is likely to meet some opposition over the next few days.

Mr. MacLaren has entered what might be called enemy territory — a crisis-hit region that is becoming increasingly wary of the notion of accelerated market liberalization.

A former Canadian trade minister who is in Malaysia to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit meeting here, Mr. MacLaren is one of four candidates lobbying for the job of WTO director-general, The term of the current chief, Renato Ruggiero, expires in April.

Increasingly the race for the top spot has revolved around a clash between unabashed free-traders, led by the United States, and crisis-hit developing countries unsure about the current pace of market liberalization.

The next director-general is expected to be chosen in December or early January through a somewhat opaque process involving back-room meetings and a good dose of geopolitics. There are three other declared candidates for the job: Supachai Panitchpakdi, the commerce minister of Thailand, Mike Moore, a former prime minister of New Zealand, and Hassan Abouyoub, the Moroccan trade negotiator.

So opaque is the process that diplomats say the job could be given to someone other than these four men. There are whispers of a dark-horse candidate from Latin America.

The clash of ideologies was crystal clear during a recent interview with Mr. MacLaren. As he spoke about the virtues of the free market, across town, Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister, was making altogether different noises.

"Unrestrained liberalization may eventually weaken the economy further and yield results which are the opposite of what is expected," Mr. Mahathir said. Two months ago, in introducing currency controls in Malaysia, Mr. Mahathir was more to the point: "People can no longer stay with the so-called free-market system," he said.

Few Asian leaders speak in similarly stark terms, but a consensus seems to be emerging among Asians about their attitude toward continued liberalization. Hoping that exports will play an important role in their economic recovery, they are firm on wanting Western countries to keep their markets open. But they fear the effects of opening their markets up too fast.

Mr. Supachai, the Thai candidate, says he understands Asia's fears. Countries hit by economic turmoil, he said recently, "might have good reason to delay their liberalization commitments because they have to tackle more immediate problems of basic economic reform."

And so the platforms of two candidates have come into focus: Mr. MacLaren's unequivocal support for bringing down barriers to trade and Mr. Supachai's somewhat qualified support for liberalization.

Mr. Supachai says he understands why Malaysia imposed capital controls: "There is some truth in what Mahathir is saying, that sometimes there has been excessive speculative movement, not based on the weakness of our economies," he said.

Mr. MacLaren shakes his head.

"Here we are speaking about an institution that's intended to liberalize trade for our mutual, common advantage, and instead we find the subject of controls and restrictions being introduced," he said. "Further trade liberalization is part of the solution, not part of the problem."

To the world outside Geneva, the battle for the top job at the WTO may seem an arcane subject laced with impenetrable financial jargon. But the stakes are high. Whoever fills the job could help influence such down-to-earth things as the price of an imported car in Europe or the fate of an employee's job in a protected industry in Japan.

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