Consensus must be sought on key WTO issues to make its Abu Dhabi conclave count

In the wee hours of 17 June 2022, as 164 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) forged a nail-biting finish to the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC-12) in Geneva, there was a whiff of optimism in the air for the relevance of multilateralism in an increasingly fragmented world. The previous two ministerial conferences had demonstrated growing fissures between WTO members. Nairobi's MC-10 Ministerial Declaration referred to differences of views between members. At Buenos Aires, MC-11 failed to produce any Ministerial Declaration. It was in this context that the MC-12 Outcome Document, as a statement of solidarity and unanimity among…