Global trade will face lingering protectionism for up to two years, as the job market reels from the global financial crisis, World Trade Organisation Director-General Pascal Lamy said recently.

“We are not out of the woods in coping with this protectionist tensions,” Lamy told reporters in the Chilean capital Santiago during a visit. “We on the trade side know by experience that we still have one or two years of stress to live and to cope with.”

Lamy said the recovery in the global job market will lag that of the world economy by around 18 months.