The course was delivered jointly by the Accessions Division and the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO, in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC), with logistical support from the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) of the WTO. The course was delivered in English with Russian interpretation provided by the ITC through the EU-funded project “Facilitating the Process of Uzbekistan's Accession to the WTO”.

In opening remarks, Xiaolin Chai, Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division, noted that services are the largest and most dynamic component of most economies around the world. The increasing economic importance of services trade is reflected in its weight in accession negotiations, which cover many services sectors and sub-sectors and cross-cutting policy issues, such as investment, labour and immigration.  

Maika Oshikawa, Director of the Accessions Division, noted the complex nature of the services negotiations in accessions, which require a great deal of cooperation, coordination and even domestic negotiations among a wide range of ministries and agencies.

During the two-week course, participants enhanced their understanding of disciplines contained in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), including scheduling practices, as well as the services commitments in WTO accessions. They received training on issues such as the classification of services sectors, schedules of commitments, most-favoured nation (MFN) exemptions and domestic regulation of services. They also deepened their knowledge on specific services sectors, including business and professional services, telecommunication services, financial services, and postal and courier services.

Furthermore, participants had the opportunity to share experiences with accession negotiators in a roundtable format. The first roundtable included former negotiators from four recently acceded members — Liberia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Yemen — who shared their insights into accession negotiations, in particular on bilateral market access negotiations on services. The second roundtable discussion included two negotiators from the European Union and the United States who shared members' perspectives on services market access negotiations.

The training course concluded on 26 March with a closing session that pre-launched the new accessions web portal.

The first edition of this training course took place in December 2016 at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva. The course was attended by 27 representatives from 14 governments seeking to join the WTO.

The programme is here.

List of the participants

• Ms. Hind BENNASSI, Algeria
• Mr. Abdallah GHRICI, Algeria
• Mr. Souleyman ZEGHOUANE, Algeria
• Ms. Wassila LAGGOUNE, Algeria
• Mr. Bahruz BAKHSHALIYEV, Azerbaijan
• Ms. Kristie RUSSELL, Bahamas
• Mr. Samuel CAMPBELL, Bahamas
• Ms. Anita Farrah STYLES, Bahamas
• Mr. Dmitri FOMCHENKO, Belarus
• Ms. Yuliya HANAKOVA, Belarus
• Mrs. Anastasiya MAZULINA, Belarus
• Ms. Pem ZAM, Bhutan
• Mrs. Sherab ZANGMO, Bhutan
• Mrs. Tashi WANGMO, Bhutan
• Mrs. Tshering DEM, Bhutan
• Mr. Guido ROJER, Curaçao
• Mr. Juan Antonio EBALE NCHAMA, Equatorial Guinea
• Mr. Moises ALOGO EDU, Equatorial Guinea
• Mr. Gerenew HAILE, Ethiopia
• Mr. Lisanework Gorfu WUBACHEW, Ethiopia
• Mrs. Arwa Jawad AL-RIJBAYE, Iraq
• Mrs. Louloua Mustafa Qasim AL-SAEDI, Iraq
• Ms. Rasha Salih Mahdi AWAADE, Iraq
• Mr. Dheyaa Salim ALKHAFAJI, Iraq
• Mr. Mohammed Hamid Nawaf AL-ANI, Iraq
• Ms. Aleksandra MALISIC, Serbia
• Ms. Miljana MANDIC, Serbia
• Mr. Sabino Tom AKONYDIT, South Sudan
• Mr. Steven Doctor Matatia JORBEK, South Sudan
• Mr. Kuot Madhor KUOT, South Sudan
• Mr. Mohammed Shaip Gibreel ABDELROOF, Sudan
• Mr. Murtada ELIAS ABBAS MOHAMED, Sudan
• Mr. Burai Osman Elsherif, Sudan
• Ms. Amal Hassan Elnaiem, Sudan
• Mr. Adil Abdalla Ali AHMED, Sudan
• Mr. HASSAN IBRAHIM ELHASSAN AHMED, Sudan
• Ms. Fatima IBRAHIM, Sudan
• Ms. Manal Alzain Mohammed MUSAAD, Sudan
• Mr. Taneo MORIYAMA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Salvador Da Costa PEREIRA, Timor Leste
• Ms. Davida Crescencia DE FATIMA MESQUITA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Leonardo GUTERRES DE CARVALHO, Timor Leste
• Mr. Domingos Lopes ANTUNES, Timor Leste
• Ms. Natalina Maria AMARAL DA COSTA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Salustiano DOS SANTOS CARVALHO, Timor Leste
• Ms. Jorginha MARTINS, Timor Leste
• Mr. Leonito SOARES DE JESUS, Timor Leste
• Mrs. Maria MARTINS DA SILVA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Decio RIBEIRO SARMENTO, Timor Leste
• Mr. Cesar DIAS QUINTAS, Timor Leste
• Mr. Florencio SANCHES, Timor Leste
• Mr. Emanuel Antero GARCIA DA VEIGA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Domingos Canossa CALDEIRA MESQUITA, Timor Leste
• Mr. Francisco AMARAL GODINHO DE ARAUJO, Timor Leste
• Mr. Fernando CARVALHO DE ARAUJO, Timor Leste
• Mr. Dovletmyrat TORAYEV, Turkmenistan
• Mr. Esemurat KANYAZOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Shokhrukh AKHMEDOV, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Lobar AZIMOVA, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Nodira KURBANBAEVA, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Lolita IRGASHEVA, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Iskandar TURSUNOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Feruzbek KURBONOV, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Nargiza SAMANDAROVA, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Shokhjakhon YUSUPOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Shaxobjon FAYZULLAEV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Mukhammadiyor MATCHANOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Anvar Mirzakhalilov, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Sherzod AFA-MIRZAEV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Dilshod MUYDINOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Batir ALLAEV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Arcady MATYASHIN, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Nafisa SADULLAEVA, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Islom ISMOILOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Mukhammadkhon KATTAKHONOV, Uzbekistan
• Mr. Alisher RUZIEV, Uzbekistan