Friday, December 5, 2014

Deputy Director-General David Shark, on 5 December, launched the WTO Chairs Programme at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo School of Economics. He said that “not only is the WTO Chairs Programme one of the WTO’s flagship products in terms of trade capacity building, it is an effective way to reach out to the academic community and develop links between academia and the policy world”.
Excellencies,
Professors,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today I have the honour and great pleasure to officially launch, on behalf of the WTO’s Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevêdo, the WTO Chairs Programme at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo School of Economics. Not only is the WTO Chairs Programme one of the WTO’s flagship products in terms of trade capacity building, it is an effective way to reach out to the academic community and develop links between academia and the policy world.
The launch is particularly timely as the WTO has just navigated an important crossroads with a major breakthrough in the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, following the solution found on the important issue of food security, which has unblocked the stalemate with regard to trade facilitation. The WTO members are now committed to proceed on all the elements of the Bali outcome, which is excellent news. While this latest development is of critical importance in itself, it also opens the gate towards developing a work programme on the remaining outstanding issues of the DDA and for which a new timeline has been established. I will of course come back to this a bit later.
The WTO Chairs Programme is part of the technical assistance and training programme that the WTO delivers with a view to enhancing the quality and level of participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading system and their ability to benefit from it. This will help in disseminating and strengthening analytical capacities for formulating sound trade and economic policies based on empirical evidence. Academic institutions can and have contributed to raising awareness on trade issues and to strengthening the knowledge base for effective decision-making.
The Chair at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo School of Economics, is one of only seven WTO Chairs awarded in 2014 through a highly competitive selection process. The WTO Secretariat received 77 proposals, including from several other very qualified Brazilian academic institutions and was assisted in the selection by an external Advisory Board comprising 20 academics, who act as advisors to the Chairs Programme.  I therefore want to congratulate Professor Vera Thorstensen as the new Chair-holder and the WTO looks forward to working very closely with her and her team. Professor Thorstensen is well known in Geneva for her ideas, initiatives and the energy with which she defends policy issues, as well as for her academic rigour. She will be a real asset to the Chairs Programme.
The establishment of the WTO Chair at the Getulio Vargas Foundation is a clear recognition of the commitment of the academic community in Brazil, which plays a vital role in educating, training and analysing matters related to trade policy and international trade, not only at the national level but also at the regional and international level.  The Getulio Vargas Foundation, according to the Global Think Tanks Index produced by Pennsylvania University in 2013, was ranked one of the top 25 think tanks in the world and the top think tank in Central and South America. Hence, the Getulio Vargas Foundation is a well-known and respected centre of excellence with first class researchers and strong links to the policy community. Hence, we very much look forward to closely cooperating with the Foundation and more broadly with the Sao Paulo School of Economics. Also, we value the Chair’s preparedness to work closely with the other academic institutions, both in Brazil and in the region, which also have much to offer in terms of knowledge and skills.
The Getulio Vargas Foundation joins an already existing network of WTO Chairs established in Phase I of the WTO Chairs Programme, which was launched in 2010, bringing the total number of chairs around the globe to 21. In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are now five Chairs, including in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Barbados. The WTO encourages strong co-operation and interaction between the Chairs in the region, and more broadly, in terms of sharing knowledge, skills and experience so as to build and encourage new synergies.
The WTO Chairs Programme provides financial support to beneficiary institutions for a period of four years. It facilitates continuous interaction between these institutions and other think tanks and academic institutions across the world. Phase II of the Chairs Programme is funded for the next four years (2014-2017) by the Netherlands. The WTO is very grateful for this generosity, which will allow us to pursue the goals and objectives of the Programme.
The role of academic institutions is essential in creating capacity at home through local academic and training programmes. The WTO Chairs Programme has three main pillars: curriculum development, research and outreach. The aim of the programme is to support academic institutions by associating individual scholars from developing countries in course preparation, teaching, and undertaking research and outreach activities. Joint capacity building efforts undertaken by the WTO and the academic institutions enhance both the capacity of the WTO and the academic institutions to train government officials as well as students. The students may one day become government officials. It also contributes to the development of WTO-related curricula in academic institutions of higher learning, and promotes WTO-relevant research intended to strengthen national and regional negotiating capacity.
The Chairs Programme contributes to building a world-wide network of academic and research institutions, sharing knowledge, experience, good practices and pedagogical material between the Chairs. The process of interaction by the Chair will involve students, civil society and other stakeholders to develop a deeper understanding of trade policy issues, disseminate research and information, promote discussion on international trade and trade cooperation, and provide analytical input into the formulation and implementation of trade policy. This is what we have already begun today with the lectures given this morning. The WTO Secretariat stands ready to provide its expertise and advice in the course of the next four years.
The WTO wants to promote research on WTO-related issues by young economists, and to reinforce the relationship between the WTO and the academic community, both at the national and regional level. Your Chair’s input will be of critical importance in the formulation and implementation of Brazil’s trade policy.
I would like to acknowledge the leadership role that Brazil played in the creation of the WTO and which it has continued to play over the almost 20 years since then. This is reflected in many ways, including the fact that Brazil has provided the first Director-General from Latin America as well as a former Chair of the Appellate Body. Brazil has also played a key role in the WTO though its leadership of the WTO’s G-20 Group which has played a critical role in the WTO’s negotiations on agriculture. Let me also pay tribute to some of the former Brazilian ambassadors who are present here today, including Professor Celso Lafer and Ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney. They have all played a significant lead role in advancing the multilateral trade agenda during their postings in Geneva.
A major effort at the WTO to enhance opportunities for all is the Doha Round of trade negotiations which aims to substantially improve the multilateral trading system, and Brazil has played a key role in these negotiations. Work on the negotiations progressed significantly late last year with major outcomes at the ninth Ministerial Conference held in Bali, including specific and tangible results in certain areas of agriculture and development as well as for trade facilitation. Indeed, the Conference result on trade facilitation is the first multilateral trade agreement since the creation of the WTO. The results achieved in Bali were not only important in their own right but were also important in building momentum to complete the Doha Round negotiations as a whole.
As you know, just last week WTO members found a way out of an impasse that had been holding up work since this past July so members can now move forward not only on trade facilitation but on all fronts.   Members agreed that work will resume immediately and that they will engage constructively on the implementation of all the Bali ministerial decisions, including the work programme on the remaining DDA issues. As Director-General Azevêdo stated at that meeting, by taking this action “we have put our negotiations back on track”.
The importance of this work was underlined by the WTO’s latest downward revision of global growth estimates which also pointed to important downside risks. These downward revisions are also confirmed by the IMF, which now foreshadows lower economic growth rates. In these circumstances one cannot stress enough the importance of keeping protectionist pressures in check, as was stated at the most recent G-20 meeting in Australia and moving forward on the Doha negotiations.
Allow me to make a few observations with respect to Brazil as a key player in international trade. With a population of nearly 200 million   inhabitants and a GDP of USD 2.3 trillion, Brazil is the largest country and most important economy in Latin America and the Caribbean today.  Brazil’s economic activities are increasingly being diversified and it has a strong emerging services sector, which accounts for some 60% of its GDP and provides a huge potential for economic growth and development. Brazil takes an active interest in the agriculture sector, as a coordinator of the WTO’s G-20 as well as in the manufacturing sector, which provides a locus for stimulating the growth of other activities, such as services, and achieving employment creation and economic empowerment.
It is well known that international trade supports the domestic diversification process and increases value added in agricultural and industrial production. Brazil seeks to achieve these objectives together with creating more employment and generating income and investment in the services sector, building on its rich potential resulting from technological progress and innovation.
I commend Brazil for strides taken to integrate into several global value chains. The result of a fuller integration into global value chains should lead to raising economic growth, improving production capacities in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors, diversifying domestic production and skill patterns, and deepening the coverage of higher-value added activities.
The WTO’s last Trade Policy Review of Brazil, which was done last year, confirmed many of the trends discussed earlier. Brazil was strongly commended for having weathered the global economic crisis, largely due to sound macroeconomic policies. Brazil was particularly praised for the progress made in further diversification of its trade. At the same time, members pointed out that Brazil faces some critical challenges linked to a global economic slowdown and which may be of interest for the academic community and more specifically the Getulio Vargas Foundation to conduct research and make policy recommendations.
Allow me to say a few words on the role of academic institutions in the Aid for Trade initiative, which is co-ordinated by the WTO to help implement demand-driven projects for enhancing capacities and addressing domestic supply constraints to efficiently engage in international trade. We have conducted a total of four Aid for Trade global reviews, the latest having taken place in July 2013. The next review is scheduled for 2015 and we are now working closely with the Chairs in preparing inputs for the next review.
The WTO Chairs, with the support of the WTO Secretariat, already made an important contribution to that event last year, which resulted in a publication containing the research work produced by the Chairs and entitled ’Connecting to Global Markets - Challenges and Opportunities: Case studies presented by WTO Chair-holders’. This book was officially launched by WTO Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevêdo, who, in launching it on 11 February 2014, said: “By demonstrating the contribution that the academic community can make to policymaking, this book makes a powerful case for the WTO Chairs Programme itself. It shows the value of building this academic capacity in developing countries, where it can sometimes be in short supply.”
He underscored that the clearest message is just how much academics can contribute to policymaking in developing countries.  Academics are in a position to approach issues with a breadth and depth of analysis which is simply not a practical possibility for many others. Academics have space to consider changes in the global economy so they can identify not only today’s challenges and opportunities, but also those of tomorrow. They are not bound by the silos of specific responsibilities which can exist in government therefore enabling them to take a broader view of holistic issues like economic welfare.
Freedom from day-to-day policy-making means they are better placed than many to take the long view, an essential virtue for those dealing with economic development, which as we all know is not achieved overnight. And they can assist policy-makers by employing or creating more precise methods to measure the impact of their policies and programmes. As did the WTO DG at the launch of the book, I would like to again paraphrase Lord Kelvin, who made valuable contributions to numerous fields of science: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”
Therefore, I have great pleasure, on behalf of Director-General Azevêdo, to award a WTO Chair to the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo School of Economics.
We look forward to a strong collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship with your institution and with Professor Thorstensen and her team.