The World Trade Organization is negotiating with Swiss authorities to expand its headquarters or move to a new building to house all its operations, the body's director-general said Wednesday, according to AP. Pascal Lamy, however, refused to comment on Swiss media reports that the WTO could relocate to Hong Kong, Singapore or another destination if authorities refuse to pay between 300 million and 400 million Swiss francs (US$247 million and US$330 million; ¤180 million and ¤243 million) for a new building in Geneva. The 150-member trade body currently has its main headquarters in the William Rappard Center, a 1926 building based on a Renaissance Florence villa overlooking Lake Geneva and the French Alps. The WTO has been trying to find a solution since space constraints forced it to move over 100 staff to another building 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away in the center of town. «The places where we are working have become too small,» said Lamy, a former European Union trade chief who has been at the head of the WTO since September 2005. «We need to be under the same roof.» The daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung reported earlier this month that the WTO was threatening to move elsewhere if the Swiss refused to meet the organization's demands. Lamy said he would not comment on «rumors» and declined to say if any country has made an offer to house the WTO should negotiations with the Swiss fail.
