The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) reviews the WTO budget and the financial statement presented by the Director-General and makes recommendations about these matters to the General Council.
The CBFA discusses any financial and administrative matters which are referred to it by the General Council or the Director-General. The CBFA is open to all WTO members and meets between seven and ten times per year.
Ambassador Sørli was formally instilled as chairman at this year’s second meeting on March 20, 2019. “The work in the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration is fundamental to ensure a smooth and effective operation of the organization. 2019 will be a busy year, with two of the most prominent tasks being the development of the Budget for 2020-21 and reviewing the Financial Regulations,” Ambassador Sørli said in his introductory statement.
The CBFA’s outgoing chair, Ambassador Juan Esteban Aguirre Martínez from Paraguay, was not present at the meeting, but Ambassador Sørli received the symbolic gavel from a former chair, Slovak Ambassador Peter Brňo.
Biography
Dagfinn Sørli started his tenure as ambassador to the WTO at the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva in August 2018. Before that, he served as Norway’s Ambassador to Estonia for four years. From 2003 to 2014, he worked as the Director for the Section for WTO and OECD affairs in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Sørli has also served as First Secretary at the embassies in both Washington D.C., USA and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he received the Medal for Defense Service Abroad. Sørli holds a candidatus rerum politicarum in political science and international affairs, sociology, and economics from the University of Oslo.