GENEVA -- "We are on the verge of losing a very valuable system," Roberto Azevedo told a press conference held right after the World Trade Organization (WTO) officially announced to recommend him as the next Director General of the organization.

He said the negotiating pillar of the organization is completely stuck. The negotiations are avoiding the disciplines from being updated and closing the gap between the rules of the organization and the real world.

"There are large number of trade-related areas and issues that need to be evaluated and discussed," he said.

Meanwhile, since 2008, protectionist trends have emerged firmly, which are threatening to all countries, particularly to the smallest and poorest of them, noted Azevedo.

He told Xinhua in an exclusive interview during his final race for the post that current WTO rules reflect the Uruguay round which was developed on the basis of a world that existed almost 30 years ago and the organization has to look at new issues.

"There is no way forward for the organization unless it's discussing, examining and eventually negotiating the issues which are priorities for businesses and those priorities change over time," he said.

But the situation he faces is that a large number of members believe that if WTO begins to examine the new issues, that will be abandoning the Doha round, the development agenda.

So before he is able to get members to the table looking at the new issues, including what he, as Brazilian ambassador, tried to push the WTO to discuss about, the impact of exchange rates on trade, Azevedo will have to make the Doha round negotiation move first.

"If we have the negotiations moving again, if we are having a good sense that we are going in the right direction as far as the negotiations are concerned, it will make things easier to have this conversation about these 'modern issues'," he told Xinhua Tuesday.

Doha round negotiations will still be his first priority when he takes office in September, he said.

Having worked directly on economic issues for more than 20 years and being Brazil's ambassador to WTO since 2008, the 55-year-old career diplomat believes he knows where the problems are for the negotiations.

The three market access areas, including industrial goods, agriculture and services, are where problems are located, Azevedo said.

He will have the coming ministerial meeting due to be held in Bali, Indonesia in December as his first test. WTO members are trying to deliver some relatively small results on issues including trade facilitation and agriculture, the so-called "early-harvest" for Doha round.

Azevedo sees it as a chance "to take a first step towards the rescuing of the system".

However, with only seven months left, there is still no clear sign of when the finalization of the package can be expected. Azevedo admitted that "if it's not successful, it will make the road a lot more difficult ahead", although he said that would not be the end of the road.

Azevedo has been known for his ability of consensus-building, but the WTO is after all a member-driven organization. The tactics and skills of the DG may help at the technical level, but what can be achieved depends on the members themselves.

The good news is that members want a solution for the Doha round, despite they do not agree on what the solution is.

"What I'm going to do is try to help them find a solution which is acceptable to everyone," Azevedo said.