The Race for the World Trade Organization
The Cairo Review’s Nadeen Shaker interviews Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, a veteran trade expert with over 35 years of experience, about running to become director-general of the World Trade Organization, how trade will change in a post-COVID-19 world, and how can developing countries expect to recover.
Abdel Hamid Mamdouh serves as senior counsel at King & Spalding LLP and was former director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO. Prior to that he was a senior counsellor in the Services Division and was the Secretary of the WTO Council for Trade in Services since the establishment of the WTO in 1995. During that time, he was also responsible for legal affairs in the area of Trade in Services. During the Uruguay Round negotiations his responsibilities included legal matters relating to the negotiation and the drafting of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). His previous positions in the GATT include: Assistant to the Deputy Director-General of the GATT and legal advisor on GATT dispute settlement. Before that, he was a trade negotiator with the diplomatic service of Egypt.
