Regional Trade Policy course 2018 (Mauritius)

Mauritius - 6 July 2018

BRIEF :THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION REGIONAL TRADE POLICY COURSE RTPC (MAURITIUS) 2018 The RTPC (Mauritius) 2018 was conducted from Monday 14th May to Friday 06th July 2018, i.e. over a period of 8 consecutive weeks. Thirty one delegates of English speaking African members and observers of the WTO, nominated by their respective governments participated in the first ever RTPC organised in Mauritius. Countries participating include Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The travel, accommodation and catering costs were borne by the WTO. The WTO also provided the resource persons that intervened on the course. The University of Mauritius (in collaboration with the WcP (UoM) contributed by providing the logistics and academic support needed for the course. Through the 8 weeks, intensive training has been delivered to the participants from 08 30 to 16 15 from Monday to Friday. Several WTO staff from the different divisions have come to Mauritius to deliver lectures. There was also a regional input from Mauritian and African speakers who contributed to the RTPC. Several important topics have been covered during those eight weeks, amongst others: Agriculture, Tariffs and Customs Valuation, Accessions, Dispute Settlement, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade in Services, Intellectual Property, Environmental and development issues. All through the training, quizzes were carried out to evaluate the knowledge of the participants before and after the modules were explained. The training was mostly in a paperless environment and all the materials were made available through a virtual classroom set up and administereed by the University of Mauritius. The training also included a professional visit whereby the participants visited the Customs department at the Port Area, Port Louis and the Alteo Sugarcane Factory, Union Flag. The participants were assessed on two criteria: their participation in class and the final examination that was held on Thursday 5th July 2018. All the participants have succeeded in the examinations and have been very active over the 8 weeks in the training by asking questions to the resource persons as well as contributing to group works and simulation exercises. The award ceremony took place on 6th of July 2018 at the UoM in the presence of the Ag Vice Chancellor of UoM, H.E (Dr) Frederik Yonov Agah, Deputy Director General, WTO and the Honourable Mr. Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius Please refer to the following link for the minister's speech and other related articles wrt the closing ceremony https://youtu.be/sBbBCL1tc9Y- Minister's Speech lexpress.mu https://www.lexpress.mu/article/334802/regional-trade-policy-course-une-...

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