The public were then invited to the inauguration of the new building. Pascal Lamy, together with several other key figures, cut the ribbon and invited visitors to a reception on the terrace of the new building.

A varied programme of events took place during the day. Staff members conducted guided tours of the WTO campus for visitors. These tours took in the renovated Centre William Rappard, the new building, the Director-General’s office, the Chinese “Gusu” garden and the library.

There were also a number of exhibitions. Visitors were able to discover a retrospective photo exhibition on the construction and extension of the WTO building from 1923 to the present day, a historical exhibition on the GATT (the precursor of the WTO), and “History as News”, a collection of original newspapers documenting events that marked the 20th century. Members of the architecture firm Wittfoht Architekten, which was in charge of designing and constructing the new building, also presented their work.

The programme is available here.