Senior Minister from Cambodia visits Geneva on the occasion of the July WTO General Council meetings

HE Mr Chheang Vun, Ambassador, Cambodia; Mr Victor Ognivtsev, UNCTAD; HE Mr Cham Prasidh, Minister of Commerce, Cambodia; Dr Esperanza Durán, Executive Director, AITIC

Nicaragua passed its trade policy review on 24 and 26 July 2006

Briefing Session on Trade Facilitation

A Briefing Session on Trade Facilitation, jointly organised by AITIC, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Geneva Office of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) took place on 21 July 2006 in the Centre William Rappard.

A report on this session will be available soon.

37th WTO Trade Policy Course

As part of AITIC’s Programme of Collaboration with Other Institutions, the AITIC Secretariat welcomed on 14 July 2006, 21 Spanish-speaking participants of the 37th WTO Trade Policy Course.

On this occasion, Mr Sergio Delgado, Senior Trade Affairs Officer, gave a brief presentation of AITIC’s assistance activities and discussed the problems faced by less-advantaged countries in achieving an effective participation in the multilateral trading system.

At the end of the visit, each participant received a copy of the electronic version of the Glossary of Commonly Used International Trade Terminology with Particular Reference to the WTO as well as AITIC’s most recent Situation Report and Information Brief.

Togo passed its trade policy review on 3 and 5 July 2006

Interview with Ambassador Samuel Améhou: What Outcome for the Doha Round negotiations?

Regional Workshop in Chisinau, Moldova

Report on the Meeting.

As part of its Programme of Assistance to Low-Income Economies in Transition (EITs), AITIC organised a Regional Workshop on WTO Negotiations in Chisinau, Moldova from 30 May-1 June 2006.

Experts presented the state-of-play in agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA), and trade facilitation with a focus on issues most concerning the EITs. To foster an exchange of experiences on a regional level, representatives also delivered presentations on their countries’ perspectives on WTO issues and trade policy. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in the workshop.

Visit by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade from the Republic of Maldives



Mr Mohamed Jaleel, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Republic of Maldives, visited AITIC on 27 April 2006, during the course of his participation in the WTO Geneva Week. He met Dr Esperanza Durán, AITIC’s Executive Director, and Mrs Gayatri Kanth, Programme Coordinator, to discuss the difficulties faced by Maldives as a non-resident member in following the day-to-day developments at the WTO.

Dr Durán was pleased to offer AITIC’s assistance to the Republic of Maldives under its Non-Residents’ Unit in setting up a Permanent Mission in Geneva. Moreover, she informed Minister Jaleel on the modalities for acceding to AITIC as a Participating Member.

Visit by the Ambassador of Malawi

During his visit to Geneva on the occasion of the WTO Geneva Week, HE Mr Brian G. Bowler, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the WTO, based in Brussels, visited AITIC on 27 April 2006. His discussion with AITIC’s Executive Director, Dr Esperanza Durán, and Mr Bobby Byll, Trade Affairs Officer, focused on the Republic of Malawi’s efforts to reinforce its participation in the multilateral trade negotiations at the WTO and to become a Participating Member of AITIC.

AITIC Briefing Session during the WTO Geneva Week

Within the Twelfth Geneva Week organised for the Non-Residents by the WTO from 24 to 28 April 2006, AITIC held a briefing session on “The Doha Work Programme at the Crossroads” on 26 April 2006.

Topics covered included:

• the Hong Kong Conference and the April timelines;
• the cotton initiative after the Ministerial;
• developments in Aid for Trade;
• the work programme on small economies;
• the negotiations on trade in services;
• LDCs in accession to the WTO;
• a European Communities perspective on the future of negotiations.

Report on this meeting.

Visit by the Delegation from the Central African Republic

A delegation from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises of the Central African Republic (CAR) visited AITIC on 26 April 2006. The delegation included Mr Dieudonné Ouefio, Director-General for Trade, Competition and Consumption, Ms Sabine Beret, Director for External Trade and Mr Marc Tomboko, Director of Studies and Documentation, participating in the Twelfth Geneva Week for Non-Resident Members and Observers of the WTO.

The meeting aimed to strengthen the collaboration between AITIC and the Central African Republic, one of the most active Participating Members of the Agency. The delegates from the Central African Republic were reassured about AITIC’s readiness to respond positively to the trade-related technical assistance requests of the Central African authorities. In addition, AITIC’s Non-Residents’ Unit would be available for the delegates of the Central African Republic during the length of their stay in Geneva.

AITIC was granted observer status at the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) at its Ninth Session held on 24-28 April 2006. AITIC’s Executive Director, Dr Esperanza Durán stated that the observer status in the IGC would facilitate the coordination and cooperation between the two institutions with respect to activities geared towards the less-advantaged countries on intellectual property issues.

Memorandum of Understanding AITIC / ILI

As part of its Programme of Collaboration with Other Institutions, AITIC signed on 13 March 2006 a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Law Institute (ILI), a private, not-for-profit organisation based in Washington D.C., that conducts scholarly research, publishing, and practical legal training and technical assistance on many aspects of international legal and economic policy and practice.

Cooperation between AITIC and the ILI seeks to strengthen their respective activities in terms of technical assistance in favour of developing countries on international trade issues with a view of improving their participation in the ongoing multilateral negotiations and their understanding of the various WTO Agreements.

Visit by the Delegation from the Republic of Iraq

An Iraqi delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture led by Dr Jamil M. J. Aldabagh, visited AITIC on 21 April 2006. The delegation, which was in Geneva to observe the negotiations at the WTO Agriculture Week, discussed the difficulties involved in the accession process of the Republic of Iraq to the WTO and explored how AITIC could provide technical assistance for this process as well as longer-term trade-related capacity building. Dr Aldabagh expressed keen interest in acceding to AITIC as a Participating Member and sought clarifications on the procedure involved. Other issues discussed concerned the need to disseminate information at the national level on the WTO and the various activities under its aegis.

35th and 36th WTO Trade Policy Course

As part of AITIC’s Programme of Collaboration with other Institutions, AITIC Secretariat welcomed on 20 and 27 March 2006, 50 English-speaking participants of the 35th and 36th WTO Trade Policy Course.

On this occasion, Dr Esperanza Durán, Executive Director, as well as Mrs Gayatri Kanth and Messrs Sergio Delgado and Bobby Byll, gave a brief presentation of AITIC and answered participants’ questions on the Agency’s trade-related technical assistance activities as well as on the problems related to the effective participation of the less-advantaged countries in the multilateral trading system.

At the end of the visit, each participant received a copy of the electronic version of the Glossary of Commonly Used International Trade Terminology with Particular Reference to the WTO as well as AITIC’s latest publication: “Situation Report: In the Wake of the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China: Time to Ponder”.

WTO Ski Race

During the WTO Ski Race that took place in Morzine, France on 18 March 2006, Charlotte Cottier won the first prize for AITIC in the category of girls under 12 years of age. Congratulations!

Informal Briefing Session on Trade in Services

On 13 March 2006, AITIC organised an Informal Briefing Session on Trade in Services for its Participating Members. At this meeting, which took place in Room F of the Centre William Rappard, Ambassador Fernando De Mateo, Chairman of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services, Mr Peter Govindasamy, Chairman of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation, and Mr Nicholas Niggli, Chairman of the Committee on Specific Commitments, informed participants on the current state of the trade in services negotiations, including developments in the Working Party on Domestic Regulation and the Committee on Specific Commitments. Representatives from several Geneva-based missions, including those of Least-Developed countries, countries undergoing accession to the WTO and a non-resident attended the briefing session and sought clarifications from the speakers on issues of concern to them.

Report on the Meeting.

Visit by the Kyrgyz Republic Delegation

Dr Esperanza Durán, Executive Director, AITIC ; HE Dr Sabyrbek A. Moldokulov, Secretary of State, Kyrgyz Rep.; M. Aziz Sabitov, Kyrgyz Rep.; HE Mr Muktar Jumaliev, Ambassador, Kyrgyz Rep.

A delegation from Kyrgyz Republic led by Dr Sabyrbek A. Moldokulov, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, including Ambassador Mr Muktar Jumaliev, paid a visit to the AITIC Secretariat on 15 March 2006. The Secretary of State, Dr Moldokulov, informed AITIC that his government had decided to become a Participating Member of AITIC through legislation that has already been approved and signed by the President Mr Kurmanbek Bakiev. The delegation discussed with AITIC possible trade-related technical assistance projects that would assist the Kyrgyz Republic in participating more effectively in the WTO negotiations in key areas of interest and also on how best could the Kyrgyz Republic benefit from its membership to the WTO. Other issues discussed concerned the need to disseminate information at the national level on the WTO and the various activities under its aegis.

Cotton Negotiations, State of Play Post Hong Kong and Future Prospects

AITIC organised a briefing session on “Cotton Negotiations, State of Play Post Hong Kong and Future Prospects” in collaboration with iDEAS Centre, on Tuesday 21 February 2006, at 15.00 in Room B, of the Centre William Rappard. The meeting was organised to facilitate the interaction of capital-based officials from the Cotton Initiative countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) with representatives of other African cotton-producing LDCs as well as with the relevant development partners from both bilateral and multilateral organisations. Participants discussed some of the latest developments on the cotton issue in the wake of the recent WTO Ministerial Conference and examined the issue of the development aspects which form part of the demands of the cotton-producing countries. Mr Nilo Dytz, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Brazil in Geneva, gave a summary of the present situation of the cotton dispute between Brazil and the US, and highlighted some of the most relevant findings of the Dispute Settlement Panel and the Appellate Body of the WTO. Ms Krista Lucenti, from the World Bank informed participants on the World Bank’s perspective on the cotton issue. The briefing session was part of AITIC’s Programme of continued assistance to the LDCs and the Non-Residents.

Report of the meeting ( French only)