Twenty-five officials from developing countries will have the opportunity to spend three months becoming conversant with the rules and functioning of the organization. This training course is to cover all WTO issues and will take the form of presentations and both interactive and simulation exercises. Participants will also be able to attend certain WTO working body meetings. Furthermore, they will have the chance to become acquainted with the work of other international organizations which are active in the fields of trade and development through visits set up in conjunction with UNCTAD, the ITC, WIPO and the World Bank.

The main aim of these courses is to provide participants with a greater understanding of international trade rules. They also enable participants to get to know the functioning of the organization from the inside and to strengthen their network of contacts. Such courses, which are funded from the regular WTO budget, are an integral part of the WTO Secretariat's training and technical cooperation plan. The activities involved should serve to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to participate actively in the multilateral trading system.

At the opening ceremony of the 29th Trade Policy Course, Mr Abbott stressed the opportunity afforded by this training course, which is taking place at a critical time in the negotiations launched in 2001 within the framework of the "Doha Development Agenda".

The 29th Trade Policy Course, which is to be held in French, is the third of its kind to be organized this year in Geneva. A similar course will be offered in Spanish in the second half of the year. The WTO is also organizing four such three-month training courses this year in the regions in conjunction with partner institutes and universities.

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29th Trade Policy Course