ACCESSIONS 12th China Round Table on WTO AccessionsARAB PERSPECTIVES ON WTO ACCESSIONS AND THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Hall 10, Room B - In-Person 23 FEB 2024 24 FEB 2024 The 12th China Round Table (CRT-12) will take place on 24-25 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the margins of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13). This is the first Round Table organized in the Arab region. The focus of this Round Table will be Arab Perspectives on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System. The Arab region is one of the most under-represented in the WTO. Of the 22 members of the Arab League, only 13 are WTO Members and nine are observers of different types. Out of the 13 Members, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen joined the WTO through the accession process pursuant to Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (the Marrakesh Agreement) between 2000 and 2014. Today, Algeria, Comoros, ""Iraq"" (observer), Lebanese Republic, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic are in the process of Article XII accession, while Palestine has had an ad hoc observer status in the WTO Ministerial Conferences since 2005. The eight Arab acceding governments have been pursuing accession, on average, for approximately 20 years, with some of the accession processes being inactive for a long time. Together with Timor‑Leste, Comoros is a candidate to join the WTO at MC13. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted during the 2nd High-Level Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Arab Region: "With several Arab acceding governments expected to step up engagement at the WTO this year, especially in the case of Comoros, we should step up our joint efforts to support them. One potentially useful point of action could be to put together a study detailing the accession and post-accession experiences of Article XII members from the region. This could serve as a guide for Arab countries working to revive their accession negotiations and would yield insights for how best the international community could support Arab accessions or Arab countries' participation in the WTO more generally." Commenting on the Trade for Peace programme, the Director-General noted that "The Trade for Peace agenda has brought to light how reforms associated with the WTO accession process can help Arab countries build resilience and foster prosperity, peace and stability." Programme OPENING Opening Ceremony 09:30-10:00 Abu Dhabi Moderator Ms. Maika OshikawaDirector, Accessions Division, World Trade Organization Opening remarks H.E. Mr. Juma Al KaitAssistant Undersecretary for International Trade Affairs, Ministry of Economy, United Arab Emirates Opening remarks H.E. Ambassador LI ChenggangPermanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization Opening remarks Mr. ZHANG XiangchenDeputy Director-General, World Trade Organization SESSION 1: Best Practices in WTO Accessions for Arab Region: Lessons from Past and On-going accessions in the region 10:30-12:30 Abu Dhabi"Best Practices in WTO Accessions for Arab Countries: Lessons from Past and On-going Accessions" is a joint study with the collaboration of four partner organizations (WTO, the Arab Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Center for Development of Trade). The study aims at providing factual accounts of past and on-going Arab accessions, as well as the post-accession performance of Article XII Arab Members, including their participation in the WTO. This session will present the main findings and recommendations of the Joint Arab Study for WTO Accessions. This will be followed by an open discussion among participants. Moderator Dr. Mena HassanEconomic Affairs Officer, Accessions Division, World Trade Organization Speaker Representatives from Arab acceding governments: Algeria, Comoros, ""Iraq"", Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and MC13 Observer: Palestine Speaker Representatives from Arab Article XII Members: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen Speaker Dr. Linda F. KassemInternational Trade Lawyer & Public Policy Consultant Speaker Mr. Stephen KaringiDirector, Regional Integration and Trade Division, Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) SESSION 2: "What's Next? Translating into Policy action and Technical Assistance/Capacity Building Support" 14:00-15:30 Abu DhabiThis session will look at how partner organizations can design future technical assistance and capacity building (TA/CB) programmes and activities for the Arab region, based on the findings and recommendations of the study. This will be followed by an open discussion among participants. Moderator Ms. Maika OshikawaDirector, Accessions Division, World Trade Organization Speaker Mr. Nazar Mohamed Eltahir DiabSenior Regional Integration Specialist, Cooperation and Capacity Development Department, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Speaker Ms. Latifa ElbouabdellaouiDirector-General, Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) Speaker Mr. Pierre SauvéSenior Trade Specialist, Global Trade and Regional Integration, World Bank Speaker Mr. Taisuke ItoChief, Trading Systems Section, Trading Systems, Services and Creative Economy Branch, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Speaker Ms. Devika RajeevAssociate Programme Officer, Trade Policy Trade Facilitation and Policy for Business, Division of Market Development, International Trade Centre (ITC) Speaker Dr. Abdelkrim GuendouzSenior Economist and Studies and Statistics Division Chief, Economic Department, Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) SPECIAL EVENT: Pre-Launch of Book "Trade for Peace: An Integrated Perspective on the Role of Trade to Support Peace and Economic Development" 16:00-17:00The session will feature a discussion around the main themes and insights from the forthcoming publication entitled "Trade for Peace: An Integrated Perspective on the Role of Trade to Support Peace and Economic Development". The new publication showcases the linkages between trade and peace through revisited economic evidence and cases studies, and more specifically, highlights the socio-political, governance and macro-economic determinants that are needed to allow trade and trade policy to make a positive contribution to peace. Moderator Ms. Amanda Sayuri MiashiroLegal/Economic Affairs Officer, Accessions Division, World Trade Organization Speaker Dr. Patrick Lowformer Chief Economist, WTO Speaker Mr. Alan Wolffformer Deputy Director-General, WTO Speaker Mr. Stephen KaringiDirector, Regional Integration and Trade Division, UNECA Commentator Dr. Simon EvenettProfessor of Economics at the University of St.Gallen, and Founder of the Global Trade Alert | | | |
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