The most common themes of the 88 sessions include agriculture, trade facilitation, global value chains and intellectual property. The sessions will be organized by a wide range of participants, including WTO members, businesses, non-governmental organizations, academia, law firms and international organizations. The full programme is available here.

 

Book launches and presentations

The Forum will feature a number of book launches and presentations associated with the WTO's 20th anniversary. These include a publication on how WTO accessions negotiations over the past 20 years have expanded the reach of the multilateral trading system and a new book on the making of the TRIPS Agreement, which presents for the first time the diverse personal accounts of the negotiators of this unique agreement on trade and intellectual property. The Public Forum will also see the launch of "WTO at Twenty: Challenges and Achievements", which describes the WTO’s achievements across a number of key areas over the past two decades and explores how trade multilateralism can work in the future.

The global shipping conglomerate Maersk will also highlight a publication entitled "The Invisible Enabler: A perspective on the role of low-cost, efficient shipping in making trade work", which looks into the innovations in shipping and logistics over the past 50 years.

Under a feature entitled "A Book and its Author", presented by the WTO Bookshop and Library, five publications will be highlighted, covering such topics as the WTO in the 21st century, a history of WTO law, and rules of origin.

 

Trade Works Fair

The Trade Works Fair will show how and why trade works. It will highlight, for example, how Haitian craftsmen are linked to global value chains, how trade works for the development of least-developed countries, how to trade safely, and how to pursue sustainability in the global economy.

Updates

Regular updates on the Public Forum will be published on the WTO website and via the WTO's social media channels. These will include a wide selection of photos, which will also be made available on Flickr.

 

Social media

Twitter handlers can use #TradeWorks #PF15 #WTO throughout the Forum.