EVENTS

Coming up: 20 - 26 March

23-24 March, Beijing, China. CHINA TOWARDS 2020: DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND POLICY OPTIONS. The 9th annual China Development Forum will meet to discuss the future of development in China, with the participation of the OECD Secretary-General. For more information, please refer to http://www.oecd.org/documentprint/0,3455,es_2649_201185_32618737_1_1_1_1,00.html.

25 March 2008, Tokyo Japan. LESSONS LEARNED FROM SOUTH-SOUTH TRADE IN ASIAN REGIONS: UNCTAD XII PRE-EVENT. In preparation for UNCTAD XII, to be held from 20 to 25 April 2008 in Accra, Ghana, UNCTAD and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) are jointly organizing a one-day workshop, to be held at JETRO headquarters in Tokyo. The main purpose of the workshop will be to examine the joint JETRO-UNCTAD publication entitled "South-South trade and regional trade agreements in Asia", including the implications of such trade and agreements for Asian developing countries and South-South trade in general. At the invitation of JETRO, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD will deliver a keynote speech at the workshop. Both UNCTAD and JETRO will deliver presentations on the publication, which will be followed by a panel discussion in which experts from business and academia will discuss further issues associated with the joint research, including lessons that can be drawn from the Asian experience for other developing countries. For more information, please refer to the meeting website at http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=15221&year=2008&month=3.

25 March, Washington, DC, USA. PREFERENCES – OUTDATED OR SIMPLY IN NEED OF REFORM? This panel on US trade preferences, hosted by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA), will explore current trade preferences with a distinguished panel of Congressional, Administrative, non-governmental, and business representatives. The U.S. system of trade preferences is at cross roads this year, with several programs expiring. Others need to be tweaked and more may need large scale fixes. The panel hopes to address the following questions: How should we move forward on these preference programs? How do they intersect with the trade agenda? Do preferences advance our multilateral trade policies with respect to the developing world, or do they hinder U.S. trade policies by raising concerns that global liberalization will cause preference erosion? For more information, please refer to the WITA website at http://www.wita.org/index.php?tg=addon/4/form&id_app=25&trt_step=1&id_step=163.

25-28 March, Helsinki, Finland. INTERNATIONAL EXPERT MEETING ON RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE FOR INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND THE IMPACT ON THEIR TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY -THE ARCTIC REGION. This expert meeting, coordinated by the UN Environment Programme Convention on Biological Diversity, will focus on the impacts of climate change in the Arctic, the measures taken to counteract that change, and the effectiveness of those measures. Finally, the meeting will focus on the future of the Arctic region and the necessary steps that must be taken in order to effectively combat climate change. For more information, please refer to the conference website at http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=EMCCILC-01.
Other Upcoming Events

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.

20 March COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE

Other Upcoming Events

20-25 April, Accra, Ghana. TWELFTH SESSION OF THE UN CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCTAD XII). The conference, the largest ever organized by Ghana, will bring together heads of government, ministers and about 4000 participants from UNCTAD’s 193 member countries to focus on the global economy and its impact on development. Delegates will consider how to spread the benefits of globalization more equitably so that no countries or peoples are left behind. This reflects the conference theme chosen by member States: addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalization for development. The conference will specifically focus on enhancing the worldwide policies for sustainable economic development and poverty reduction, with considerations of the current trade and development realities in the global economy. The conference will also focus on ways to strengthen UNCTAD’s influence and effectiveness within the International Development community. For more information and a complete list of conference documents, please refer to the website at http://www.unctadxii.org/en/