Friday, May 27 2005 10:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Geneva: Former European Union (EU) trade chief Pascal Lamy of France was confirmed as the new head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the WTO said yesterday (May 26, 2005).

A session of the ruling General Council of the 148-member WTO formally approved a decision made public earlier this month by a selection team, it said in a statement.

Lamy is scheduled to take up his four-year mandate on September 1, when current WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand ends his term.

He said in a written statement he would spend the next few months preparing for the job.

The WTO, which sets the rules for global commerce, is largely steered by its members, using a sluggish system Lamy once dismissed as "medieval".

But the director general also plays an important role, prodding recalcitrant Governments and helping build compromise in an effort to drive trade talks forward.

"I am honoured that the WTO's 148 members have today decided to appoint me director general," Lamy said yesterday.

As trade relations between leading WTO members such as China, the US and EU grow increasingly bad-tempered, Lamy can expect a tough challenge.

His key task will be to maintain momentum in the three months before ministerial talks in Hong Kong in December, which are meant to cap the Doha Round of global trade negotiations.

"I believe we have a crucial task ahead to complete the Doha development agenda round of trade talks, this will be my immediate first, second and third priority," Lamy said.