Trade has been an engine for economic growth in the post-war period, helping to reshape the global economic landscape. But today new dynamics are rapidly shifting world trading system. Major powers like the USA, China, and Europe are changing their roles in global trade, leaving the future of the regime in question. A critical – but often under-appreciated – question amongst these shifts is the potential role of the broader developing world. Could the increasingly strained global trading system be turned into a tool for development?

Susana Malcorra was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Argentina Republic until July 2017. After stepping down, she became Minister Advisor to the President until December 2017, presiding over the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference held in Buenos Aires. She has 25 years’ professional experience in the private sector in IBM and Telecom Argentina where she became CEO. Ms. Malcorra left Telecom in 2002 after deciding to seek opportunities in the field on non-profit organisations. She joined the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in 2004. In May 2008, United Nations Secretary-General appointed her Under-Secretary General of the recently created Department of Field Support, where she was charge with providing logistics, communications, personnel and financial support services to the UN Peacekeeping Operations all over the world. In April 2012, Ms. Malcorra became Chief of Staff to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Among other salient tasks Ms. Malcorra coordinated the Missions to eliminate the Syrian Chemical Weapons and to respond to the Ebola Emergency in West Africa. She is a frequent speaker, has written her first book (Passion for the Bottom Line) and has multiple affiliations with organisations dedicated to her areas of interest, ranging from sustainable development, to democracy and international trade. Women’s leadership and empowerment are at the centre of her work.