Plenary sessions will address the main theme of the Review. Other sessions will provide further insights on this theme including from a regional, private sector or practice perspective. These sessions may also address trade and development themes more generally.  Proposals for sessions may be submitted by WTO members and the Aid for Trade community, including organizations engaged in Aid for Trade implementation or research.  

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said: "Over the last 12 years, our Aid for Trade initiative has been a powerful instrument for building trade capacity and trade-related infrastructure in developing and least-developed countries. It aims to make trade more inclusive and ensure that its benefits are spread further and wider. Our focus in 2019 will be how trade can do even more to contribute to economic diversification and empowerment. I encourage WTO members and our key Aid for Trade partners to actively participate in this work. I look forward to welcoming them to the WTO for the flagship Global Review event in July."

The WTO-led Aid for Trade initiative helps developing countries, and particularly least-developed countries, to trade by seeking to mobilize resources to address their trade-related constraints. Many developing countries face a range of supply-side and trade-related infrastructure obstacles which constrain their ability to engage in international trade.

Global Reviews are attended by ministers of trade and development, international financial institutions, private sector firms and associations, development research organizations, together with participants drawn from the broader trade and development community. Registration for participation in the 2019 edition will be opened in January 2019. 

The event typically attracts over 1,500 registered participants. Past editions of the Global Review have examined digital connectivity, reducing trade costs and global value chains. 

Proposals to organize sessions at the Global Review should be submitted using this form to [email protected] no later than 31 March 2019.  Multiple proposals may be made but the number of sessions (plenary and other sessions) will not exceed 60.

Past programmes and more details on Aid for Trade can be found here.