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WTO NEWS: 1995 PRESS RELEASES

PRESS/12
19 May 1995
WTO special course for officials from Eastern and Central European and Central Asian Countries

For the fifth consecutive year, the Swiss government is funding a WTO training Course for officials from newly independent states in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia.

The Course begins on 22 May 1995 and is designed to help officials from countries in transition to market-oriented economies increase their understanding of and participation in the multilateral trading system.

This nine-week course will include 25 officials from the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova and Uzbekistan.

This Special Trade Policy Course, which will be held in English, covers international trade theory, the legal texts of the WTO and the functioning of the multilateral trading system. The structure, scope, activities and functioning of the WTO will also be covered.

The Course includes lectures and presentations by senior officials of the WTO secretariat, representatives of other international organizations concerned with trade policy questions and by members of the permanent missions of some of WTO members. It also includes seminars, round tables and group discussions, a workshop on negotiating techniques, a simulation exercise on dispute settlement and a tariff negotiations simulation exercise.

As part of the Course programme, participants will undertake a study tour in Switzerland designed to acquaint them with the economic and trade policies of Switzerland and with some of Switzerland's leading industrial and commercial enterprises and institutions.

Apart from the Special Courses for Eastern and Central European and Central Asian countries, the WTO secretariat regularly organizes Trade Policy Courses for officials from developing countries in English, French and Spanish.

Note to editors:

GATT/WTO accession working parties have been established for the following Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries: Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.