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Former, trade Minister, Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten, has become the first official candidate to succeed Pascal Lamy as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mr. Lamy�s term of office, which was renewed once, ends on August 31, 2013. The 57-year-old Ghanaian economist expressed his intention for the post this year, promising to transform the WTO, if given the nod. Subsequently, after an intense lobbying, Mr. Kyeremanten won the endorsement of the African Union. President John Dramani Mahama confirmed Ghana�s support for Mr. Kyeremanten�s candidature and went further to ask his colleagues in an address at the 7th Summit of the Heads of State and Governments of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Thursday, to join Ghana to support Mr. Kyeremanten. According to the 157-member trade body, applications must be submitted by the end of the year, in time for a three-month campaigning period and for a winner to emerge by the end of May. Even though Mr. Lamy had made it clear that there was no system of rotating the job between countries and regions, and that his successor, chosen by consensus, should be picked on the basis of competence alone, others think otherwise. For many trade diplomats, they hold the view that the job should go to an African, Latin American or Caribbean candidate, since all but one head of the 17-year-old WTO have been from developed countries. Thailand�s Supachai Panitchpakdi was the exception. Other personalities said to be bracing for the contest include South African Trade Minister Rob Davies, New Zealand�s Trade Minister, Tim Groser, Costa Rica�s Trade Minister, Anabel Gonzalez, Brazil�s Ambassador to the WTO Roberto Azevedo, Former Jordanian Trade Minister Ahmad Al Hindawi and Eduardo Perez Motta, head of Mexico�s competition commission. So far, the European Union is the only WTO member that is said to have ruled itself out of the contest.