
VOIR
AUSSI:
Communiqués
de presse
Nouvelles
Allocutions:
Mike Moore
Allocutions:
Renato Ruggiero 1995-1999
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Mike
Moore, Director-General of the WTO opened yesterday a meeting of
former participants of GATT/WTO Trade Policy Courses. Close to seventy
delegates representing essentially developing countries and economies
in transition, are currently posted in Geneva. Addressing
the former participants, Mr. Moore said it was very comforting to see
how their governments have made a judicious allocation of their
resources by appointing them in Geneva. “You are the living proof
that the courses are useful and deserve to be supported as a core
activity of the WTO Secretariat”, he said. Close to 2000 government
representatives have participated in the Trade Policy Courses since
their introduction in 1955.
Regretting
that currently available resources do not permit to increase
substantially the capacity of the organization to contribute to
capacity building, Mr. Moore reaffirmed his determination to pursue
the matter with a view to expanding and improving the WTO technical
assistance and training programme. He underlined that the Residential
WTO Trade Policy Courses constitute only one facet of the
organization's contribution to strengthening human resources in
developing countries and economies in transition. The Director-General
also mentioned the project, further down the road, to establish a WTO
Trade Policy Academy or Institute.
At
the meeting, the participants have decided to reactivate the
“Association of Former Participants in GATT/WTO Trade Policy
Courses”. Mr. Alberto Dumont, Deputy Permanent Representative of
Argentina, has been elected President of the Association and Mr.
Mohamed Samir Koubaa, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Tunisia, Secretary/Treasurer of the Association.
Delegates
who attended the meeting unanimously welcomed the reactivation of the
Association as it will, in an informal and convivial setting, offer an
additional forum to share views and opinions on a number of issues of
common interest in relation to the evolution of the Multilateral
Trading System.
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