Wednesday, July 1, 2015

During the 5th Aid for Trade Global review a side event was jointly organized by Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) and Economic Research Statistics Division (ERSD) on 1 July 2015. The main purpose of this side event was to provide a platform for the research conducted by Chairs, to familiarize the WTO Chairs with the Aid for Trade initiative and trade facilitation process, and facilitate interaction between the policy makers and academics.
Following a call for papers and a selection process jointly undertaken by ITTC and ERSD, 6 case studies were presented by selected Chairs (Brazil, Benin, Morocco, Russia, South Africa and Tunisia).
The event was formally opened by DDG Yi who emphasised that reducing trade cost is pro-development and why, in particular trade facilitation reform is a crucial ingredient in this effort. He recalled how important trade facilitation, and in particular the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement is for developing countries. He also suggested that the Chairs could be publish the case studies presented at the event in a book.
During the closing ceremony DDG Agah thanked the WTO Chairs for the excellent work they conducting and expressed his hope that they would continue their engagement in the research and outreach programme of the WTO. He indicated that all studies confirmed that the Trade Facilitation Agreement signed at the last Ministerial Conference of the WTO could generate significant gains for the world economy. In addition, he thanked the Kingdom of the Netherlands for supporting the WTO chairs programme
It was the second time, the ITTC and ERSD co-organised a side event on the margin of the Global Review of the Aid for Trade. It was a unique opportunity to associate academics directly with the policy makers and it has enhanced the level of interactions. Several Chairs have secured special arrangements during the event, in particular the Chair of Brazil was invited to visit the Chair in South Africa and develop joint researches. Furthermore, the Chair from Morocco invited the Chair of Benin and Tunisia to attend the 9th international colloquium organised by the Chair of Morocco scheduled in November 2015.