Featured in the picture from left to right are: John Danilovich, Hannah Wu, Tekedra Mawakana, Roberto Azevêdo.
Recently, eBay was pleased to host Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and his wife, Ambassador Maria Nazareth Farani de Azevêdo, at our headquarters in San Jose, California. John Danilovich, Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, also joined the meeting. Director-General Azevêdo is a globally respected trade official and thought leader and is extremely interested in the impact of the Internet and digital technologies on trade. He requested a meeting with eBay to gauge our interests and concerns as he develops an SME (Small & Medium Enterprise) and ecommerce agenda for the WTO in 2017.
The meeting was led by eBay VP of Global Government Relations & Public Policy, Tekedra Mawakana, VP of Business Operations for the Americas, Hannah Wu, and Senior Manager of Global Public Policy, Alan Elias. Tekedra provided the group with an overview of eBay’s business and unique global trade story. She also discussed how the eBay platform empowers nearly all of its entrepreneurs and SMEs to take part in global trade, whether in rural or urban areas, and advanced or developing economies. Tekedra stressed that this is a new model of trade that is more inclusive and offers new economic and trade growth opportunities. Hannah highlighted some of the business data related to SME trade through eBay including top markets for the Americas as well as growth in Canada and Mexico. She also shared seller stories from the Americas that provided detailed examples of their percentage of products exported. Finally, the eBay team offered policy recommendations and pushed for the WTO to be a vocal advocate for Internet-enabled entrepreneurs and SMEs that want to participate in the global trade.
Thank you to Director-General Azevêdo and Secretary-General Danilovich for reaching out to eBay and taking the time to join us for a meaningful and productive discussion. We look forward to working with you on these important issues and continuing our instructive dialogue.