The week-long course focused on the concept of trade in value added (TiVA), which takes into account the domestic and foreign contents in an economy's exports. It also focused on policy implications of trade taking place in global value chains (GVCs).

The objectives were to educate participants on TiVA indicators such as underlying statistics, compilation methods, terminology, definitions and interpretation, to familiarize them with online TiVA databases, and to understand key policy learnings arising from TiVA.

In addition to presentations, the course consisted of round table discussions, live demonstrations and interactive hands-on exercises. Among the presenters were WTO staff members as well as international experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 

“The knowledge I have acquired with respect to TiVA and GVCs will enable me and my unit to better interpret international trade statistics. Another significant takeaway from the course is the role of services (business, distribution, transport and other services) in the production of exports as intermediate inputs in the value chain,” said course participant Samuel Thomas, Director of International Trade at Saint Lucia's Ministry of Commerce, International Trade and Investment.

“The thematic course on TiVA and GVCs was delivered in an organized and effective manner. The depth and coverage of the course with a number of high quality presenters actively involved in various aspects of this work from the WTO and other international organisations such as OECD and WIPO was indeed very good and commendable,” he said.

Another course participant, Daria Zvegintseva, Head of the WTO Division of the Department of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, said: “The course met my expectations both in terms of theory and technical skills in applying it. The topics covered by the course were very useful and comprehensive. I intend to apply the acquired knowledge in the work related to the formulation of trade policy, including the analysis of current patterns in international trade and bilateral trade with Russia's trading partners.”

Ermir Lico, Head of Quarterly National Accounts at Albania's Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), said: “From the training, I have learned that most TiVA indicators are based on a core matrix, easily derived from Inter Country Input Output tables (ICIOTs), which breaks down the value added origin of exports by country and industry.”

• The programme of the course is available here.
• The WTO maintains a portal on GVCs including access to TiVA statistics and online databases. The portal can be accessed here.
• Further information on WTO technical assistance and training can be found here.