TECHNICAL COOPERATION: SEMINAR

WTO Geneva — 20 March 2003
Seminar on a programme on trade-training capacity building

The Secretariat is organizing a one day seminar on 20 March, 2003 to launch WTO's programme on trade-training capacity building. Participation is limited to representatives of WTO member governments.

WTO members in their communicated priorities and requests to the WTO Secretariat have expressed a clear preference for sustainable capacity building.  In response, the Secretariat has developed a number of trade-training capacity building activities which it plans to carry out in  2003 and beyond. The activities differ in scope and duration and are planned in various regions of the world.  They are partly designed to enable the WTO to study the best and the most effective and efficient ways to build trade capacity in the regions through nurturing existing and creating new trade training and advising capacity.

The seminar on 20 March will kick off the programme. It will not be a training-of-trainers workshop, although a skills-based TOT demonstration is part of the seminar's programme.

Room D

10:00 – 13:00

• Introduction and objective of the seminar: Dr. K.A.A. Rana, Deputy Director-General of the WTO

• Introduction to WTO's programme on trade-training capacity building: objectives, modalities, approaches: Mrs. Annet Blank, Counsellor, Development Division

• Inter-active panel discussion on best practices in trade-training capacity building:

Panelists:

• Mary Footer, Deputy Director, Amsterdam Center for International Law, Faculty of Law — University of Amsterdam

• Trudi Hartzenberg, Trade Law Center for Southern Africa, TRALAC, Stellenbosch

• Dominique Njinkeu, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi

• Adriana Suarez, Commercial Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Colombia to the WTO, Geneva
   

Moderator: Paul Rolian, Director, Institute for Training and Technical Co-operation, WTO Secretariat
  

15:00 – 18.00

Practical Session: Demonstration of a training of trainers (TOT) skills-based training session: Presentation provided by Mr. W.T. Loris, Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).