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WTO NEWS: 2001 PRESS RELEASES

Press/221
23 April 2001

WTO starts 17th trade policy course

Deputy Director-General Paul-Henri Ravier, in opening the 17th WTO Trade Policy Course on 22 April 2001, welcomed the strong representation of trade officials from Africa and least-developed countries in the three-month course conducted in French.

On 22 April twenty-seven officials, largely from least-developed countries, were welcomed to the headquarters of the World Trade Organization at an inaugural ceremony to launch the 17th Trade Policy Course held under the aegis of the WTO.

Mr. Paul-Henri Ravier, Deputy Director-General of the WTO, welcomed the organization of a training course in French, one of the Organization's three official languages. Greeting the participants, he noted the benefits to be drawn not only from the instruction they would receive in the course of three-month's training but also, and perhaps more importantly, the experience to be gleaned from three months at the Secretariat and direct contact with delegates from the 140 countries and customs territories that currently make up the WTO. Referring to the challenges facing the multilateral trading system today, Mr. Ravier emphasized that they were illustrated in part by the fact that African countries and a number of least-developed countries were so strongly represented at the 17th Trade Policy Course. Greeting officials from countries in the process of acceding to the WTO, he expressed his conviction that training activities were a key to active participation by all partners in development and to adapting the rules of the multilateral trading system. The trade policy courses were launched in 1995 under the aegis of the GATT and have become a beacon of the WTO's technical assistance activities. Three twelve-week courses are organized every year at WTO headquarters in Geneva.

  
  
List of participants
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Albania

Miss Ejana XHIXHA, Vice-Chairperson, Insurance Supervision Commission, Council of Ministers, Tirana.

Angola

Mr. Alain Michel LUVAMBANO, Attorney, Legal Department, National Shippers' Council (CNC), Ministry of Transport/Ministry of Trade, Luanda.

Benin

Ms Sophie Dagbe TOPANOU, Officer, WTO Reference Centre, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, Handicrafts and Tourism, Cotonou.

Burkina Faso

Mr. Dramane MILLOHO, Director in Charge of Foreign Trade, General Directorate of Trade, Ministry for Trade, Enterprises and Handicrafts, Ouagadougou.

Chad

Ms Ehra Sarah GNADANG, Chief, Multilateral Trade Relations Section, Foreign Trade Division, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Handicrafts, N'Djamena.

Côte d'Ivoire

Mr. Mobio Marc LOBA, Chief, Importers Study and Accreditation Service, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Abidjan.

Djibouti

Mr. Mohamed ELMI OBSIEH, Officer in Charge of Relations with WTO, Department of International Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Handicrafts, Djibouti.

Gabon

Ms Danielle Mauricette ISSEMBE, Director of Foreign Trade, Directorate of Foreign Trade, General Directorate of Trade, Ministry of Trade, Tourism, Industrial Development and Handicrafts, Libreville.

Guinea

Mr. Facinet KEITA, Chief, WTO Section, National Directorate of Trade and Competition, Ministry of Trade, Industry and SMEs, Conakry.

Haiti

Mr. Pierre-André DUNBAR, Assistant-Director, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Port-au-Prince.

Kazakhstan

Ms Ajar ABDILDINA, Chief, Customs Revenue Division, Analyses and Forecasts Department, Ministry of State Revenue, Astana.

Lebanon

Ms Souheir NADDE, Member of WTO Unit, WTO Unit, Ministry of Economy and Trade, Beirut.

Madagascar

Ms Joséphine Aimée Ralison SAHONDRA, Customs Inspector, General Customs Directorate, Ministry for Budget and the Development of Autonomous Provinces, Antananarivo.

Mali

M. Sekou Amadou N'DOURE, Inspector of Economic Services in Charge of Files, WTO/UNCTAD Task Force, Foreign Trade Division, National Directorate of Trade and Competition, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Transport, Bamako.

Morocco

Ms Saadia OUAISSA, Officer, Treasury and External Finances Directorate, Balance-of-Payments Division, Relations with International Institutions Branch, Ministry of the Economy, Finance, Privatization and Tourism, Rabat.

Mauritius

Mr. Jean Claude MONTOCCHIO, Mauritius Chamber of Commerce, c/o Permanent Mission of Mauritius to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Mauritania

Ms. Khadidiata BA, Chief, Studies Service, Directorate for the Promotion of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, Handicrafts and Tourism, Nouakchott.

Niger

Mr. Issaka ABOUBACAR, Chief, Export Promotion Service, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Niamey.

Central African Republic

Mr. Jean-Paul Bervy SERVICE TEZAWA, Chief, Disputes Branch, Directorate of Competition and Repression of Economic Fraud, Ministry of Trade, Industry and the Private Sector, Bangui.
Democratic
Republic of the Congo
Mr. Nzuka Simon MAPENGO, Inspector, Implementation Division , Customs and Excise Office (OFIDA), Kinshasa.

Rwanda

Ms Mucyo Théophile NDOLI, Officer in Charge of International Trade Relations, International Trade Relations Division, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Kigali.

Sao Tome and

Principe

Mr. Adérito Oliveira Ramos BONFIM DOS RAMOS, Chemical Engineer/Public Official, Technical Division, Directorate of Trade and Industry, Ministry of the Economy, Sao Tome.

Senegal

Mr. Cheikh Saadbouh SECK, Deputy-Director of Foreign Trade, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, Dakar.

Tadjikistan

Mr. Fourkat LAFIZOV, First Secretary, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dushanbe.

Thailand

Ms Vandee SUCHATKULVIT, Attorney, Bureau of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Commerce, Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, Bangkok.

Togo

Mr. Akuetey JOHNSON, Officer in Charge of Missions and Studies, Ministry of Trade, Industry, Transport and Free Zone Development, Lomé.

Tunisia

Mr. Malek Moezz BOUZGARROU, Administrator-Counsellor, Directorate of Relations with WTO, Ministry of Trade, Tunis.