Henry Gao

Professor of Law

The WTO Chairs Program is unique among chair professor programs in academia as the only one focusing on policy-making. It is also the only one among the WTO's many technical assistance programs designed to boost the capacity of developing countries by training the next generation of policy-makers. In the decade since its inception, the WTO Chairs Program has played a big role in bridging academic research and policymaking. The research outputs of the Chairs are mostly practice-oriented and provided invaluable intellectual support to the countries and regions where they are based. The Chairs in many countries have become the "go-to" think-tanks on trade issues. Overall, the Chairs Program has become an indispensable part of the WTO technical assistance program that shall be further strengthened.