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Supachai
Panitchpakdi's speeches
> Dr.
Supachai's introductory remarks
(Download in Word format,
5 pages, 28KB)
> Full
programme (Download in Word format, 1 page, 31KB)
> Fifth
Geneva Week
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Delegates
from 30 countries and 18 regional trade organizations received full
briefings on sectors currently under negotiation in the Doha
Development Agenda as well as on other WTO issues. Geneva Week
participants also had the opportunity to participate in meetings of
different WTO bodies, including the formal meeting of the Negotiating
Group on Market Access, a special session of the Committee on Trade
and Development dedicated to small economies, a meeting of the
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries and a Seminar on the Trade
Policy Review. The Seminar focused on how participation in the Trade
Policy Review process can contribute to strengthening the capacity of
developing countries to formulate and implement trade policy, and to
derive benefits from their participation in international trade and
the WTO. In addition, non-resident delegates met with Ambassador
Sergio Marchi, Chairman of the General Council.
In
launching the Geneva Week programme, Director-General Supachai
Panitchpakdi stressed his commitment to assist those without
representation in Geneva: “I attach the greatest importance to
the needs and priorities of the Non-Residents,” he said. “I
am committed to finding ways and means to better assist them. Geneva
Week is one of the more creative mechanisms that has been established
by the Secretariat to respond to the specific needs of WTO Members and
Observers”.
This
is the second Geneva Week programme this year (the previous meeting
was in April). The Geneva Week is now funded directly from the WTO’s
core budget rather than through trust fund contributions. It is
designed to bring up to date on WTO activities those Members and
Observers who are unable to regularly attend WTO meetings in Geneva.
The first Geneva Week took place in 1999.
Twenty
two WTO Members and 8 Observers attended the Geneva Week: (Members)
Antigua & Barbuda; Belize; Burkina Faso; Chad; Fiji; Gambia;
Grenada; Guyana; Macao, China; Malawi; Maldives; Mali; Namibia; Niger;
Papua New Guinea; Saint Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sierra Leone;
Solomon Islands; Suriname; Swaziland; Togo; (Observers) Armenia;
Bahamas; Lao, PDR; Samoa; Sao Tome & Principe; Seychelles; Tonga;
Uzbekistan. The following Secretariats of regional trade organizations
also attended: Caribbean Community; Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (COMESA); East African Community; Economic Cooperation
Organization; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS);
Intergovernmental Authority on Development; Indian Ocean Commission;
Organization of East Caribbean States; Pacific Islands Forum;
Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery; South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC); New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD); Southern African Development Community (SADC);
Communauté Economique et Monétaire; Commission de l’Union
Economique et Monétaire; Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración;
Comunidad Andina; Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR); Secretaría de
Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA).
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