The aim of the training courses is to provide participants with greater understanding of trade policy matters, the functioning of the multilateral trading system and the work of the World Trade Organization. Courses will also address the provisions of the agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations and the rights and obligations of WTO members. Offered in English, French and Spanish, the courses are open to officials from developing countries, including countries which are not WTO members.

The courses have a practical orientation and are designed to help participating officials, who already have responsibilities for the formulation and conduct of foreign trade policy in their respective governments, to perform their functions more effectively, and to promote a more active and effective participation of their respective countries in the multilateral trading system. Apart from a series of lectures on WTO law, the programme includes participation in seminars and group discussions, a workshop on negotiating techniques and simulation exercises for conducting trade negotiations and for settling disputes. Participants also attend official meetings.

During the course, participants undertake a study tour in Switzerland and a study tour abroad,

which include visits to institutions and enterprises connected with foreign trade. In addition to WTO Secretariat officials, many guest lecturers, including senior officials of government delegations and international organizations, as well as academics, are invited to address the participants.

Since 1955, GATT/WTO has organized 81 training courses for 1,464 officials from 128 developing countries and ten regional organizations. These figures do not include the 146 senior trade officials from Eastern and Central European and Central Asian countries who participated in the six special courses organized by GATT since 1991, with the financial support of the Swiss Government, nor the 76 senior officials from Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and Ukraine who attended the three special GATT/WTO courses funded by the United States in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

List of participants/Liste des participants/ Lista de participantes

Bangladesh   Mr. Md. Hossain ALTAF, Assistant Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka.

Barbados    Miss Angela K. PHILLIPS, Economist II, Ministry of International Trade and Business, St. Michael.

Cambodia    Mr. Soviddhya TAN, Assistant to the Director, Foreign Trade Department, Ministry of Commerce, Phnom Penh.

China   Mrs. Xiaohong OUYANG, Section Chief, Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Beijing.

Eritrea   Mr. Ogbeab ZERU, Head of Planning and Budget Unit, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Asmara.

Hong Kong  Miss Ip Fong Eliza LAM, Trade Officer, Industry Department, Kowloon.

India     Mr. Anil K. BAMBA, Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade, Trade Policy Division, Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi.

Indonesia   Mr. Jehezkiel S.G. LANTU, Head of GATT/WTO Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta.

Israel   Mrs. Marcia HARPAZ, Senior Economist-Investigator, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Jerusalem.

Jamaica   Mr. Deon L. WILLIAMS, Trade Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kingston.

Jordan   Mr. Fakhry HAZIMEH, Technical Director, Office of the Secretary General, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Amman.  

Kenya   Mr. Nelson M. NDIRANGU, Senior External Trade Officer, Department of External Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Nairobi.

Korea    Mr. Kyung Han KIM, Deputy Director, WTO Affairs Division, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Gwachon.

Lesotho   Mrs. Mamoruti A. MALIE, Chief Trade Development Officer, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Maseru.

Malaysia   Mr. Mohamed Daud SHUKRIE, Principal Assistant Director, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Kuala Lumpur.

Nigeria   Mr. Suleman A. AUDU, Commercial Officer I, External Trade Department, Federal Ministry of Commerce and Tourism, Abuja.

Pakistan   Mr. Rab Nawaz ABBASI, Research Officer, Ministry of Commerce, Islamabad.

Saudi Arabia   Mr. Ibrahim A. AL SADOON, Director General of Jeddah Airport Customs, Customs Department, Riyadh.

Singapore   Miss Ching Fen Carolyn NEO, Senior Trade Officer, Trade Development Board, Singapore.

South Africa   Mr. Xavier CARIM, Deputy Director, Department of Trade and Industry, Pretoria.

Tanzania Mrs. Anna-Florence G. BULONDO, Foreign Trade Officer, Ministry of Industries and Trade, Dar-es-Salaam.

Turkey   Mr. Hakki AKIL, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Geneva.

Viet Nam   Mr. Nguyen Van LONG, Assistant Director, WTO Division, Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi.

Zambia   Mrs. Peggy N. MLEWA, Economist, Department of Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Lusaka.

Zimbabwe   Mr. Noel MASIZA, Senior Administrative Officer, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Harare.

CCS   Mr. Ivor M. CARRYL, Deputy Programme Manager for Industrial Development, Caribbean Community Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana.

ESCWA   Mr. Mohamed El Sayed RADWAN, Economic Affairs Officer, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Amman, Jordan.