On Tuesday and Wednesday, January 16-17, the WITA Academy hosted nine sessions covering the World Trade Organization. The two-day Intensive Trade Seminar started with welcoming remarks by the World Trade Organization’s Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Click the video above to watch the remarks.
This event was free to attend for embassy, ministry, and government officials thanks to the support of the WITA Academy by UPS, the Cristena Bach Yeutter Charitable Trust, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association.
If you are a government official and you wish watch the recordings of the Intensive Trade Seminar, please email us at events@wita.org to get access free of charge. Non-government individuals are able to purchase access to the recordings by contacting us at events@wita.org.
Curriculum and Speakers
Day 1: Structure and Functions of the World Trade Organization
Welcoming remarks by Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization
Session 1: Structure and Organization of the WTO: Ministerial Conference, Secretariat, General Council, Councils, Committees and Working Groups
Ambassador Didier Chambovey, former Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the World Trade Organization; former General Council Chair, World Trade Organization
Ambassador Santiago Wills, Director, General Council and Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Division, World Trade Organization; former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the World Trade Organization
Moderator: Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, Senior Advisor, McLarty Associates; former Deputy Director General, World Trade Organization; former Deputy United States Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Session 2: General Agreement on Trade in Services, and Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Electronic Commerce
Johanna Hill, Deputy Director General, World Trade Organization
Darryl Leong, Deputy Permanent Representative at Mission of Singapore to the World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva
Moderator: Ambassador Robert Holleyman, Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP and President & CEO, Crowell & Moring International; former Deputy United States Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Session 3: Agriculture and Food Security
Joseph W. Glauber, Senior Research Fellow, Markets, Trade and Institutions, International Food Policy Research Institute; former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and former Special Doha Agricultural Envoy, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta, Consultant with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); former Costa Rican Ambassador to the World Trade Organization; former Chair of the WTO Committee on Agriculture in Special Session
Moderator: Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, Principal and Founder, AgTrade Strategies, LLC; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Agricultural Affairs and Commodity Policy, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Session 4: Trade Disputes and Dispute Settlement Understanding
Jorge Castro, Director of the Legal Affairs Division, World Trade Organization
Niall Meagher, Executive Director of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL)
Moderator: Michael O. Moore, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University
Day 2: Multilateral Trade Policy Issues
Session 5: Negotiations and Reform
Angela Ellard, Deputy Director General, World Trade Organization
Moderator: Paul H. DeLaney, III, Partner, Kyle House Group; former International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance; former Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Session 6: Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change
Aik Hoe Lim, Director, Trade and Environment Division (TED), World Trade Organization
Ana Lizano, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the World Trade Organization
Moderator: Sarah Stewart, CEO and Executive Director, Silverado Policy Accelerator; former Assistant Deputy U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Session 7: Development, Aid for Trade and Enhanced Integrated Framework
Simon Hess, Head of Monitoring & Evaluation, Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Secretariat, World Trade Organization
Michael Roberts, Head of Aid for Trade, World Trade Organization
Moderator: Katrin Kuhlmann, Visiting Professor of Law; Faculty Co-Director, Center on Inclusive Trade and Development, Georgetown Law; Member, Trade Advisory Committee on Africa, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
WITA presentation on Development 17.01.24
Session 8: Disruptive Trends in Trade
Anabel González, Vice President for Countries, Inter-American Development Bank; former Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization
Ralph Ossa, Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division (ERSD), World Trade Organization
Moderator: Michael J. Smart, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors; former Director for International Trade and Investment, National Security Council, The White House
Session 9: National Perspectives
Ambassador Li Chenggang, Permanent Representative of People’s Republic of China to the World Trade Organization
Ambassador João Aguiar Machado, Permanent Representative of the European Union to the World Trade Organization
Ambassador Brajendra Navnit, Permanent Representative of India to the World Trade Organization
Ambassador Maria Pagan, Deputy United States Trade Representative and Chief of Mission for the Permanent Mission of the United States to the World Trade Organization
Ambassador Eheth Salomon, Permanent Representative of Cameroon and Coordinator of the African Group to the World Trade Organization
Moderator: Mark Linscott, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council; Senior Advisor at the Asia Group; and former Assistant United States Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs
Thank you to our WITA Academy Sponsors
