The Chairs have made progress in the implementation of their respective projects, including on issues of common interest identified at the 2011 Annual Conference.  This year’s annual meeting took stock of the work undertaken by Chairs since the launching of the WCP, thus covering almost two years of activity.  Chair holders were invited to make brief presentations on the advances they have made since the beginning of their respective work programmes, as well as the main challenges encountered in implementation, and their plans for the future.  Members of the Advisory Board of the WCP commented on the programmes and outputs delivered of the participating institutions.  Participants in the meeting also included the WTO Secretariat Counterparts and representatives of the Permanent Missions of countries that host a WTO Chair.
 
The Conference provided an opportunity to collectively discuss the functioning of the WCP.  A number of issues were raised, such as:
 
•              How have priorities changed since the projects started, are new needs emerging?
•              Modalities to assess outputs in the field of research following the results based management approach developed by the WTO Secretariat
•              Promoting collaboration among Chairs in the field of research
•              Importance of leveraging additional funding from other sources, as pertinent
•              Ways to enhance linkages between research and policy-making
•              Ways to enhance effectiveness of reports and events
•              Ways to enhance support from the WTO Secretariat and other stakeholders for the implementation of Chair’s projects
•              New research topics and their insertion in the Chair’s projects
 
On the first day, the main findings and recommendations of the Mid-Term Review Exercise were discussed. Chair holders then discussed the research they carried out in 2011. Following discussions on the three pillars of the WCP, there was a panel discussion and an opportunity to seek clarifications and compare notes on the various projects. On the second day, Chair discussed the curriculum development and outreach activities carried out in 2011. In the afternoon, the WTO/UNCTAD publication, Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis, was launched. Chair holders then had the opportunity to present their research papers