Two females entered the final round race to become a new Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is from Nigeria and Yoo Myung-hee is from South Korea.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as her country's first female finance and foreign minister, and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two and Yoo, 53, is meanwhile currently serving as her country's first female trade minister, following a career in trade diplomacy and foreign affairs.
"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Korean minister Yoo Myung-hee will advance to the third and final stage of consultations," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters at the global trade body's headquarters in Geneva, following a meeting where the news was announced to member states.
The third stage will run from October 19 to October 27," he said, with a winner to be announced before November 7.