GENEVA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Britain is committed to multilateralism and the World Trade Organization(WTO), the United Kingdom International Trade Minister Liam Fox said Thursday.
"The international trading system that we created in 1995 may be in need of some refurbishment, but our commitment to its fundamental goals and principles remains unshaken," said Fox while speaking at the Graduate Institute, an international studies' university in Geneva,
"The UK has been a WTO member since the organization's inception and I am proud to stand here today and say that the UK remains, to its core, committed to multilateralism, and to the WTO," he said.
He was speaking on the theme Beyond Brexit: Britain and the Global Economy, and was to meet the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo at the organization's headquarters later in the day.
Brexit is the popular term for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, which it voted on by a slim margin in a June 23, 2016 referendum.
Fox noted that while much political activity in Europe has focused on Brexit, the world in facing another round of trade liberalisation under the WTO.
He said that to Britain, "a nation that has for centuries been dedicated to the principles of free trade, the World Trade Organization retains both a vital symbolic and practical significance".
The minister said the WTO is the home of "the rules-based international system for global trade that has been the foundation of our post-war prosperity".
"We must remain vigilant, and ensure we have an efficient mechanism in place for resolving disputes between members that, crucially, commands the confidence of WTO members," said the minister.
Fox said it is critical that trade works for all WTO members, and he said Britain remains committed to ensuring Least Developed Countries and other developing country trading partners can use trade to reduce poverty.
