BLED, Slovenia - Global trade must be placed on a firmer foundation, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Monday at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia.

"The current disruptions of the global trade system contain an opportunity for countries to put global trade on a firmer footing for the years and decades ahead," she said at a panel on European economic competitiveness in a new global reality.

Okonjo-Iweala noted that while the global trading system has "a stable core", it currently exists "in an unstable equilibrium". She stressed that the multilateral trading system benefits people around the world by creating better jobs, and urged the European Union (EU) "to come forward and be a leader" in global trade reform.

European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela told the same panel that the EU's trade, production and investment ties with third countries will be crucial for the bloc's future growth.

Matevz Frangez, State Secretary at Slovenia's Ministry of Economy, emphasized the need to strengthen the WTO's core principles. He also described the recently concluded EU-U.S. trade deal as unfair and unbalanced.

Earlier on Monday, a new platform called Future 500 was launched at the forum. The initiative aims to identify 500 promising scale-up companies, connecting them with growth capital and strategic partners to enhance their visibility and credibility on the global stage. The program will be led by the non-profit think tank Atlantic Council and the Bled School of Management, with a focus on companies from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

This year marks the 20th edition of the Bled Strategic Forum, held under the theme "A Runaway World". Established in 2006, the forum is organized by Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs together with the Centre for European Perspective. Over two decades, it has grown into Slovenia's most prominent foreign policy and economic conference, bringing together heads of state, policymakers, academics and business leaders to debate Europe's role in a rapidly changing global order.