EVENTS

For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD's web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm .If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch.

Coming Up: 20-26

September 20-21 September, Geneva, Swizterland. EXPERT MEETING ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS OF FINANCIAL SERVICES AND COMMODITY EXCHANGES. The meeting aims to discuss key financial services, their trade and development implications and their role in achieving financial stability within the context of a country's broader development objectives. four sessions will address global market trends in financial services; the role of financial services in economic development; financial services, the role of government, regulatory frameworks and international regulatory standards; and liberalization of financial services trade through multilateral and regional negotiations and their development implications. The meeting will provide an opportunity for actors from public and private sectors, including trade negotiators, policy makers, academia and financial services regulators, to explore different facets of financial services in an open debate at the international level. For information e-mail: Mina.Mashayekhi@unctad.org and Elisabeth.Tuerk@unctad.org; internet: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=13560&year=2007&month=9.

21 September, UN Headquarters, New York, USA. EXPERT GROUP MEETING: THE USE OF NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE REVENUES FOR SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. The meeting aims to provide a platform to stimulate discussion on the use of non-renewable resource revenues for sustainable development at the local level in developing countries. Speakers from four countries will discuss the performance and the impacts on the ground of development programmes, projects and activities financed by revenues from natural resources, in selected countries from Africa and Latin America. The meeting is intended as a first step towards a broader comprehension of the efficiency and effectiveness of use of natural resource revenues at the local level for sustainable development and growth. Internet: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/institutional_arrangements/egm2007/index.htm

24-25 September, Geneva, Switzerland. UNCTAD EXPERT MEETING ON COMPARING BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO MAXIMIZING DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND COUNTRIES WITH ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION. This meeting will focus on policies aimed at maximizing the development benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI). It is likely to focus on issues such as devising a systematic competitiveness policy for FDI, upgrading efficiency-seeking FDI, attracting FDI to small markets, improving the investment framework for FDI, and attracting FDI to post-conflict countries. Experts will be requested to identify best practices and to present their own national cases for comparison and exchanges. Internet: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&m=13509&info=not&lang=1

25 September, Stockholm, Sweden. STOCKHOLM PLEDGING CONFERENCE FOR ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK (EIF). Hosted by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This meeting is a follow-up of the December 2005 WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong and this year's G8 summit meeting in Germany, where partners were urged to increase contributions to the Integrated Framework trust fund, as well as other development plans like Aid for Trade. The purpose of the meeting is to provide governments and multilateral development institutions with an opportunity to offer financial commitments to a newly restructured Integrated Framework. Internet: http://www.respoint.se/itp/event/eif/1466

WTO Events

An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted at: http://www.wto.org/meets_public/meets_e.pdf . Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies. Unless otherwise indicated, all WTO meetings are held at the WTO, Centre William Rappard, rue de Lausanne 154, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, and are open to WTO Members and accredited observers only.

25 September: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY

26 September: COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

Other Upcoming

Events 4-5 October, Geneva, Switzerland. WTO'S 2007 PUBLIC FORUM ON HOW THE WTO CAN HELP HARNESS GLOBALIZATION. The Forum is intended to provide civil society, academics and the public with a unique opportunity to debate with WTO Members how the WTO can best contribute to the management of globalization. Trade and global governance, the contribution of the WTO to the construction of a coherent multilateral system and the interaction between trade and sustainable development will be but a few of this year's topics. Participants can come to Geneva or participate online. Internet: http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/public_forum2007_e/programme_e.htm

15-16 October, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK: SUSTAINABILITY IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE: THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT. Organised by the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council (IPC). Recognizing that agriculture and food security face a range of pressing challenges from increasing population growth to global warming, IPC will bring together international food and agricultural trade experts, environmental experts, farm leaders, government officials, and agribusiness and food retail executives to discuss how the private sector and governments can best address these sustainability challenges. The seminar will also discuss the role of trade in the sustainability debate. For further information, contact Amy Testa, tel: +1 202 328 5117; email: mailto:http://www.agritrade.org/events/sustainability_agriculture.html; internet: http://www.agritrade.org/events/sustainability_agriculture.html.