Join ASPI Vice President Wendy Cutler, National Foreign Trade Council President Amb. Rufus Yerxa, and the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) for an interview with WTO Director General Candidate H.E. Ambassador Amina Mohamed.

WITA has held a series of interviews with the official candidates to become the next WTO Director General, as the Geneva-based organization prepares for its current leader to step down from the position at the end of August. H.E. Amb. Amina Mohamed, was recently announced as Kenya’s candidate for the role, and is former Kenyan Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Register Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lMFS2GVoTvC0SkK9RviqRA 

Speakers

Amb. Amina Mohamed is a committed international civil servant who has had a distinguished career in both public and foreign service. She has served in strategic government positions and been elected to key international positions. Her work experience in over twenty six years covers a broad spectrum of domestic and international assignments. She rose through the ranks in Kenya’s diplomatic service to the highest level of Ambassador/Permanent Representative Kenya Mission to the UN at Geneva from 2000-2006. She served as Director, Europe and the Commonwealth and Director Diaspora from mid-2006-2007 and was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs in 2008. Since July, 2011 she has served as United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at Nairobi.

Ken Levinson serves as the Executive Director of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA).  WITA is Washington’s largest non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum in the U.S. capital for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA and its affiliated groups have over 5,000 members, and more than 160 corporate sponsors and group memberships. Levinson has over 25 years of experience working with companies, associations, NGOs and governments, advocating innovative solutions to complex public policy challenges. Over the years, he has worked with clients in the technology, telecommunications, bio-pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, financial services, retail, apparel, energy, and consumer products sectors. Levinson received his Master’s Degree from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst.

Wendy Cutler joined the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) as Vice President in November 2015. She also serves as Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. Office. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Most recently she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, working on a range of U.S. trade negotiations and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In that capacity she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, including the bilateral negotiations with Japan. She also was the chief negotiator to the U.S.-Korea (Korus) Free Trade Agreement.

Amb. Rufus Yerxa is currently the President of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC). Prior to that, he led a distinguished career spanning four decades, including as a lawyer, diplomat, and trade negotiator. Among his many roles, he served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 1989 to 1995, and Deputy Director General of the WTO from 2002 to 2013.

The event is hosted in partnership with the Washington International Trade Association (WITA).