OPEN Advisory Board member Mike Moore sadly passed away on 2 February.
Mike had an illustrious career, as the trade minister of New Zealand who opened its economy up to the world in the 1980s, as his country’s prime minister, as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation who launched the Doha Round and brought China into the WTO in late 2001, and as New Zealand ambassador to the US during the Obama administration and the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which became the CPTPP after President Trump pulled the US out of the trade agreement.
Perhaps more importantly, Mike was a wonderful man. Kind, witty and loyal, he rose from very humble beginnings, overcame polio as a child and cancer as a young man, and despite a lack of formal education reached the heights of global politics while remaining true to his principles. He had a passion for justice, learning and people, as well as for the benefits of open trade and internationalism.
On a personal note, Mike plucked me from The Economist to be his special adviser at the WTO, was a trusted mentor and became a good friend. Mike, whose funeral is in Auckland tomorrow, will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his beloved wife, Yvonne.
