The event was organized by the WTO’s Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC), attracting more than 100 participants.
In his opening remarks, WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang said: “Regional trade policy courses are a central element of the WTO’s delivery of technical assistance to members and observers. Despite the changes introduced over time, both in content and format, one thing that has not changed is the effort the WTO Secretariat puts into ensuring the high quality of these courses.”
Since the WTO organized its first regional trade policy courses in Africa 20 years ago, 85 courses have been held across the world, helping to build the trade-related skills of over 2,300 government officials from developing and least-developed countries.
The courses seek to deepen government officials’ understanding of the WTO agreements and strengthen their ability to undertake WTO work. The participation of regional academics and policy specialists creates the opportunity for discussion of regional trade policy issues and linkages with the WTO.
Dr Patrick Low, former WTO Chief Economist, provided some background on how the first courses were organized in Africa and how they developed across the world.
Jorge Castro, Chief of the ITTC’s Course Design and Training Section, looked back at the evolution of the courses over the past 20 years, while Vonai Muyambo, Head of the Regional Trade Policy Courses Unit, shared some lessons learnt. She also highlighted the challenges faced by these courses – and the Secretariat’s technical assistance activities in general – in the future. Such challenges include addressing ongoing demand for technical assistance from beneficiary governments in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner.
The recording of the event can be viewed here.
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