The course was opened by Mr Shishir Priyadarshi, Director of the Development Division. He said in his opening remarks: “LDCs need to be proactive in pursuing their interests in the work and negotiations at the WTO. It is against that background that this course plays a useful role in building the capacity of trade policy officials of LDCs to enable them to effectively pursue their interests at the WTO.” 

The prime objective of the course, which is being held for the fourth time, is to strengthen the participants' knowledge and understanding of the issues of key interest to LDCs in the multilateral trading system. These include special and differential treatment, preferential market access in goods and services, technical assistance and capacity-building. Participants will also be briefed on the current discussions in the WTO, including in the run-up to the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, in June 2020.

The course represents an intermediate-level training activity (level 2) within the WTO's progressive learning strategy. It is targeted at mid-level government officials from LDCs dealing with WTO-related matters who are based in their home countries. It is delivered by experts from various divisions of the WTO Secretariat through a combination of lectures, case studies and exercises. 

Course participants